


Neurosis

by Umbradominus



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Depression, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, OC is a human, Possible smut later on, Romance, Slight Focus on Mental Health
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-06-08 09:57:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6850024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbradominus/pseuds/Umbradominus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moving to a new town can have many difficulties. Avery, while he isn't too keen to admit it, Is dealing with them, mainly due to some dark issues of his past resurfacing. Luckily for him, he quickly befriends a Steven and the gems, making his moving process much easier. However, after befriending Pearl, what could happen when he starts to have feelings for the slender gem?</p><p>Will Avery find love, or will his dark thoughts get the best of him? Will Pearl find a way to reconcile with the past, or will she continue to live her life in fear?</p><p>Only time can tell whether their Neurosis will let them live their lives or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Beach City is a place that could be classified into two different states of being: The first (and most expected to the average passerby or vacationer) being a sleepy little tourist trap seemingly devoid of much, if any, intrigue. This seemed to be much the case at most of the time.

The second state, however, held far more interest to most people. Extraterrestrial technology. Giant monsters. Beings with supernatural powers. Today, many people would likely scoff at or mock you for even thinking of believing in such ridiculous claims, calling you any number of profanity which could most be summarized with “You’re a Fool”.

Well, consider the young man driving near the outskirts of town said fool.

The man in question was currently in a grey car, rumbling along the slightly roughly paved road. He was a tall, thin man, not having much definition in terms of fat or muscle. He was in the midst of positioning his messy ebon hair to get a better view of the sky. It was slate grey, much like his eyes.

 _Looks like it’s been raining_ he thought.

He lowered his gaze back to the trail he was on, collecting his thoughts back to his previous mulling.     He found it understandable, most people thinking he was mad to find truth in the mystical claims of the city he was heading to. At the same time, however, he couldn’t help but feel a bit cheated that he was one of the only people he knew that could find some inkling of right within the claims.

He shook off his momentary frustration and focused his efforts on what his awaited destination held for him: Not just a relaxing shoreline and the possibility of something larger than he is, but both.

Yes, of the coin that was Beach City, he didn’t care whether it landed heads or tails. Either of the two states of being would be to his liking.

Regardless, he couldn’t help but let doubt crawl into his subconscious.

_What if I don’t get the job? It’s been so long since I’ve been to this city, they don’t know me. They most likely have several other more qualified candidates. Even if I do get it, the moving company isn’t going to be here for a couple days, so for the time being I’ve only got the clothes on my ba-_

He put his rapidly speeding train of thought to a halt, pulling over his car to do the same physically.

 _Deep breaths, Avery…Deep breaths_ He chanted to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose to prevent the inevitable feelings of an oncoming headache.

Shaking himself off, both mentally and physically, Avery proceeded to start his car. _Alright, back along my merry way…if I can call it merry after what just happened._

After about a half an hour or so, he finally made it: Beach City. Pulling over to the side of the main road, Avery stepped out of his vehicle. It seemed that his previous assumption of it raining was true, as the many potholes were filled with water and the air smelt of wet pavement. The corners of Avery’s mouth, as well as the entirety of his head, hooked upward in joy. The scent wafting through Avery’s nostrils were accompanied by memories from long ago: Him and his father on a porch during a rainy afternoon, his siblings under a fort of blankets, giggling and “hiding” from the storm outside. Such thoughts made him yearn for the past.

Avery’s nostalgic throwback was interrupted, however, when he heard a noise.

* _grumble*_

Looking downward to his stomach, Avery came to a conclusion.

_Alright, before I meander into Possible-Mid-Life-Crisis-Thoughts-Even-Though-I’m-Nowhere-Close-To-Fourty, perhaps I should get some food in my system._

Surveying the area for what might be appetizing, Avery’s eyes stopped near the end of the main street, and what seemed to be a large circle on top of a building.

 _The Big Donut, huh? How original_ Avery thought sarcastically. Despite this, a donut did sound rather nice, so headed in that direction.

Walking through the door, an all too familiar jingle on his heels, the person working the counter (a teenage girl, by the looks of it) snapped to attention. The other worker, this one a boy, didn’t seem to care a customer was at the store, his phone holding much more interest over him.

“Hi there, welcome to the Big Donut! What can I get for you?” The girl said

“I’ll take a Chocolate, if you have any” Avery responded

“Comin’ right up!”

Upon hearing a stranger’s voice, the other worker looked up from his phone and took notice of the customer.

“Never seen you around here” He said, with a very traceable amount of indifference.

“Oh, That’s because I’m not from here, I just got into town.” Avery replied

“I see.” The girl picked up the conversation “Are you a tourist or here for the long haul?”

“Long haul. I got an interview over at the hospital.”

“For what position? Janitor?” The boy laughed at his own joke

“Lars!” The girl cried

“Oh, lighten up Sadie.”

Avery chuckled despite the rudeness of this Lars’ comment. “For your information, I’m a therapist. They’re needing help in the psychiatric ward.”

“Oh, so you help out nutcases?” Lars said

“Essentially.” Avery answered with a slight smirk

“Eh, whatever. Though, if you’re gonna be living here, take my advice:” upon saying this, Lars pointed to a house in the distance, very close to the shoreline “Stay away from that place.” He said with distaste.

“Uh, why? Is it **_haunted_**?” Avery said, smiling and wiggling his fingers

“I wish. It’s where those freaks live!”

“Excuse me, freaks?”

“Oh, grow up, Lars.” Sadie chimed in “You’re just jealous because you can’t do what they do. Here’s your Donut, that’ll be one dollar.”

Fishing the sufficient currency from his wallet, Avery paid for the pastry. “Thank you, have a good day.”

“You as well, Sir! Good luck with the interview.”

“Thanks, I’ll be needing all the support I can get.”

As Avery walked out the door of the establishment, absentmindedly hearing an argument between Lars and Sadie, He looked toward the house the former had mentioned previously.

It was a gorgeously crafted house, nobody could deny that. From the stone walkway to the front porch and the patio overlooking the sea, it gave off a simultaneous feeling of eloquence and hominess.

Those features weren’t what caught Avery’s eye most, though.

No, that prize would go to the carving surrounding the house. It appeared to be a…woman? Avery wanted to say it looked like a woman, due to its thin build and billowing hair. Most perplexing of the work of art was its multiple arms.

_Maybe it’s a…religious figure? Or possibly…_

Avery thought back to the far-fetched rumors. With the house and the warning from Lars earlier, he felt his heartrate increase and his doubt for entertaining the rumors dissipate slightly. Maybe that house was where those supernatural beings lived.

Avery didn’t let himself get too excited, though. In all likelihood, those who lived in that house were just the village oddities that everyone liked to spread strange rumors about. Be that as it may, he found it unfair that Lars kid labeled them as “freaks”. Granted, he hadn’t met them, but as long as they don’t spread hate a person shouldn’t be ridiculed just for being eccentric.

Stopping his inner monologue for a brief period, Avery peered down to his watch.

 _An_ hour _before the interview. What should I do in the meantime?_

Looking up and down the main street, He didn’t see much that piqued his intrigue. Just some shops that were either closed or didn’t really seem his cup of tea. The most interesting spot was what appeared to be an amusement park/arcade far down the road (Avery always had a soft spot for arcades still in business) but that was also closed.

Looking for any other options to pass time with, Avery looked to the ocean. It was very deserted, most likely due to the previous storm. Weighing all of his options in hand, Avery decided to head to the beach and lounge for a while.

Upon reaching his desired spot, Avery eased himself down on a sand dune and took a bite from his chocolate covered pastry.

 _Mmmm_ Avery thought _Delicious._

Finishing his donut, Avery looked around the beach to find anything of note, after a while deciding the ocean itself proved to be most interesting.

At the moment it was very choppy, with the outermost area he could see creating vast indigo waves that clashed gorgeously with the stone colored sky above.

_To believe people would pay hundreds to get a view like this…and I get to see it every day._

This thought made Avery smile, both internally and externally, and helped put his mind slightly at ease for his upcoming meeting at the hospital.

Still, he couldn’t help but ruminate over the other troubles he thought of earlier. It was true that there were probably other, more qualified people for the job that were also applying. Avery was still somewhat fresh off the heels of college, so it could indeed be possible his intelligence could merely be brushed off as pride or naiveté in comparison to elder person in his same field.

_Be that as it may, you’re here to stay, Avery. That’s for the best regardless if you get the job or not._

This thought made Avery close his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Said inhaling caused him to get a nose full of the sea’s scent. Coupled with the already prominent scent of the rain, his nasal cavern felt on cloud nine.

 _You know what?_ Thought Avery _to hell with it. I’ve a great view, a nice looking new town…_

Avery looked over to the Beach house he was surveying earlier, and his already prevalent smile grew larger _and maybe even something wonderful on my hands. It’s time to stop moping and start getting with it._

Avery gazed out to the sea, the torrential waves in the distance and sea spray overloading his senses, and said aloud:

“Alright, Beach City: Show me what you’ve got!”

* * *

 

**Good morrow, fair gentles! I’m guessing it was pretty obvious to tell but this is my first story. With that being said, any and all criticism/reviews are welcome, I want this to be a learning experience. Oh, and for those yearning for Steven and the Mom Squad, fret not, they’re coming soon enough. Thank you so much for those who read this! Stay tuned if you’re interested.**


	2. Chapter 2

"C'mon, Peri, the storm passed over an hour ago, get out of there!"

"Can't you see the clouds are still dark? I must be prepared! I won't let some atmospheric change best me!"

The pseudo-argument between Amethyst and Peridot had been going on for several minutes, most of Peridot's dialogue coming from inside a fort of cushions. Steven had been listening with some mild interest, giggling at Amethyst's slang and Peridot's fish out of water tendencies.

This, however, was not the boy's main focus of attention. That belonged to a man Steven didn't recognize who had been sitting at the beach for some time. The man seemed to be lost in thought, by Steven's calculations.

He must have appeared the same way as soon after this judgement, a certain slender gem came over and inquired:

"Are you alright, Steven? You seem… distant."

Steven smiled at his guardian. _Protective as usual_ he thought.

"No, I'm just thinking about that guy over at the beach. I haven't seen him before."

Pearl peered through the window she and Steven were near and came to the same conclusion.

"Hm. I suppose you're right. Eh, maybe he's a tourist." Pearl said, not giving much mind to the human.

"I think I'm gonna go say hi."

Pearl's mind instantly snapped into panic mode

"Steven are you sure? You don't know who he is, what if he does something to you? Besides, like I said, he's probably just a tourist, I'd assume he would be gone in just a day or so."

"Or he moved into town. C'mon Pearl, you really think I can't handle myself?"

"That's not the point, Steve-"

"Pleeeeeeease?" Upon saying this, Steven's eyes transformed into their signature "star" mode.

"Why exactly are you so keen on talking to this man?" Pearl questioned

"I dunno, I guess I just have a-"Before finishing his sentence, Steven lifted his shirt to reveal his gem " _ **Gut feeling!"**_

Steven looked around the room, waiting for the laughter to que in.

… It never came.

Steven cleared his throat and continued "Besides, this is the same kind of feeling I had when I saw Connie or wanted to let Peridot stay. You know better than anyone not to question me on those feelings."

Pearl sighed _He does have a point_ She admitted internally _Still…_

"Garnet, what do you think?"

Said gem this whole time had been sitting on the couch (or what remained of the couch due to Peridot's architectural feat) and listening to Steven and Pearl's conversation. She could somewhat understand where Pearl was coming from, with her extremely maternal way of being "Stranger Danger" did seem to be a top priority for the pale gem. On the other hand, Pearl (as most people who met her knew) had a tendency to be incredibly overbearing, so she was most likely taking this whole situation out of hand. Besides, Steven was right about one thing:

You don't question him on these feelings.

"… As long as he's careful" Garnet said.

"Yes!" Steven exclaimed

Pearl exhaled in defeat. "Alright, fine." She couldn't help but smile over Steven's jubilation over something so simple. "But remember: if he tries to offer you candy…"

"I bash him over the head with my shield!"

"Atta boy!" Amethyst cheered

Pearl glared at the purple woman "I was thinking more along the lines of say no and run back home."

"Eh, my version's better." Said Amethyst

Pearl sighed in exasperation "Alright, go on, say hi."

This gave Steven the signal to run out to the porch and down to the waterfront where the man was sitting.

* * *

"Hi there!"

Avery turned his head to see a chubby boy beaming at him.

_Wow. Those are some pearly whites._

"Um, hi." Avery said as politely as he could muster

"I haven't seen you around here. Did you just get here?"

Avery chuckled at this statement. _Now where have I heard that in the past half hour?_

"Yeah, I just got in from the city, I'm moving here."

"That's great! Beach City is awesome, you're gonna love it here!" the boy said

Avery smiled. _Good lord, how can one person be so happy for regular conversation?_

Not that Avery was complaining. Said happiness was becoming rather infectious.

Because of this, Avery decided to humor the boy with more info of himself.

"I've actually been here before. I can agree, it's a nice place."

"Awesome." The boy said. He then stuck out his hand and replied "I'm Steven. Steven Universe."

Avery reciprocated by placing his own hand in Steven's. "Avery Pemberton, nice to meet you Steven… wait is your actual last name Universe?

"Yup!" Steven replied. "Same as my dad!"

"That's a pretty fantastic last name." Avery wasn't lying when he said that

"Thanks!" Steven said.

"So, tell me Mr. Universe, what exactly inclined you to come talk to me?"

Steven shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I just saw you sitting by yourself from my house, I got this feeling and I wanted to say hi."

"I see." Avery responded "Well, I have to thank you. I've been feeling pretty antsy but our talk has calmed me down a bit."

Steven's face then turned inquisitive. "Why were you feeling nervous?"

"Eh, it was because of a culmination of things, mainly the fact that I have a job interview in about half an hour."

"Where's the interview at?"

"The hospital. I'm a therapist and they're needing a mental health professional to help out."

Once again, Steven's face changed. This time into exuberance. "No Way! My friend's mom works out there!"

"Oh, really? Who's this friend of yours?"

"Her name's Connie. Connie Maheswaran."

"Maheswaran, huh? No kidding, I'm actually meeting a Mrs. Maheswaran at my interview. Small world."

Steven then stood in a dramatic pose, arms and legs flexed. "This must be fate!"

Avery gave a little laugh "Fate? I'm not so certain about that."

"No, I'm serious. When I saw you out here I got the same feeling I got when I met Connie and Peridot. When I get those feelings I know something good is bound to happen!"

"Who's Peridot?"

"Oh, she's a friend of mine who lives with me and the other gems." Steven explained whilst pointing his thumb toward the beach house.

"Oh, I s-… hold on. You live _there?"_ Avery's eyes widened at this realization

"Yeah, that's where the gems and I live."

"The gems… who might they be? If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all. Even though you just moved here, I'm surprised you haven't heard any rumors about us."

"I think I might have, actually." Avery's excitement was building at the possibility of proving those rumors true. "Mainly things about supernatural beings who protect the city. Are those the gems you're talking about?"

"You know it!"

"And you said you're one of them?" Avery's curiosity was at its peak.

"That's right!" Steven proclaimed this proudly, hands on hips.

Suddenly, Steven raised his shirt to reveal a deep pink gem deep seated within the boy's belly button. This cause Avery to jump back slightly in surprise.

"Woah! That's… something else."

"Oh believe me, you don't know the half of it. Check this out!"

For a split second, the two of them were engulfed in a bright pink light. Once the brightness subsided, Steven held what appeared to be a shield made out of quartz in his hands.

"Pretty neat, eh?" said Steven, proud of his handiwork.

Avery, dumbfounded at the event that transpired, was about to say something that resembled a long string of stuttering attempting to resemble normal speech when he was stopped by a shrill voice.

"Steven! You weren't actually going to take Amethysts advice, were you!?"

"Wha- Oh, hi Pearl! Nah, I was just showing Avery here my Skeelz."

"Oh, Steven, what are we going to do? He's most likely scarred for life."

"Scarred for life?" Avery interjected, a smile plastered on his face. "You're joking, right? That was amazing!"

Steven and Pearl turned towards the man and asked simultaneously "You really think so? Pearl being more questioning, clashing with Steven's exuberance.

"Of course I do! You don't just see a kid materialize a shield of thin air every day!" Avery exclaimed.

"… I see. Well, I'm at least relieved to hear nothing drastic happened." Pearl said

"So, was that all you came out here for?" Steven asked.

"No, actually. It's almost time for dinner and I need your assistance with some things."

"Oh, Okay! See you Avery, Nice meeting you! Good luck with your interview!" And with that, Steven rushed back to the beach house.

"Uh, thank you. It was nice meeting you as well, Steven." Avery shouted after him.

Pearl was about to turn after to follow Steven when she was stopped by Avery's voice "So, Pearl, was it? I take it you're one of the gems Steven has spoken so highly about."

Pearl sighed internally, not wanting to spend much more time then she needed with the human.

"Yes, I am one of the Crystal Gems. Why might this information aid you?"

"Oh it won't 'aid' me in any way, I just wanted confirmation. Not sure if you heard Steven say it, but I'm Avery." Upon saying this he bowed, one arm in front of his stomach, the other against his back. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

 _Goodness._ Pearl thought. _That was… surprisingly formal._

"You as well, I suppose."

"Say, before you go, I'd like to apologize."

Pearl looked at him in a quizzing manner. "For what, exactly?

"Well, for starters, wasting your time with my inane ramblings when you obviously have things to do." Avery said jokingly. Pearl couldn't help but chuckle, if only slightly.

_For a human, he's quite well spoken._

"All joking aside," Avery continued "I'm sorry if I kept Steven for too long. You obviously care very deeply about him and I can see how the 'strange new person' could worry you."

"You gathered that from the very little I said to him?" Pearl questioned.

"Well that, and I could see you watching me and Steven while we were talking from the porch."

"… Oh." He was indeed correct about that. Her worry got the better of her and she decided to eavesdrop.

"Well… I suppose there's no need to lie about that, now is there?"

The two of them had a good laugh about that.

Pearl then took the reins of their little exchange. "Regardless, it seems my paranoia was misplaced. You seem alright. For a human, at least."

"Tch, I'm flattered." Avery said mockingly, though not maliciously.

"I won't lie to you, though, you surprise me."

"How so?"

"Just with how… okay you were with Steven drawing his shield. Whenever one of the gems does something magical, most people would just label us as 'strange' or 'freakish' and stay away."

"To begin with, don't pay much mind to those who call you freaks." Avery's mind drifting back to his earlier conversation with Lars. "From the very little I know of you and Steven, you both seem wonderful."

"Oh, well… thank you." Pearl said, nearly blushing at the praise.

"Secondly, I'm not most people. I like strange. Strange is new, strange is interesting. Hell, I work with strange on a near daily basis, I wouldn't get into it if I wasn't drawn to in one way or another."

"I see." Pearl said whilst a smile found its way onto her face. "You're viewpoint is quite refreshing, if I must say."

"And don't you find it somewhat depressing that that's the case?" said Avery with a slight frown. "Life itself is an anomaly too weird and too large for any human to understand, I don't see why many of us can't tolerate a bit of said weirdness here and there. Who knows, something good may come out of it."

"Exactly! Humans can be so closed minded."

"We're kinda the worst at times."

Once again, wholehearted laughter filled the air for the two. This time, though, it was cut short by an electronic buzzing coming from Avery's wrist.

Looking down at his watch, Avery realized just how much time he had spent on the beach. "Ah shoot, I think I'm going to be late for my interview."

Pearl also came to the conclusion on how much they've been conversing. "Oh, I apologize for keeping you here so long."

Avery's smile found its way back onto his face. "Don't be, I really enjoyed our talk." Before turning to leave, Avery finished with "I hope to see you again."

"I hope so as well." Pearl called after him. Surprisingly, she said it completely truthfully, not just out of politeness. Pearl was astounding herself, she hadn't taken this well to a human since Connie came into her and the other's lives.

 _This feels… nice._ Pearl thought.

With this notion, Pearl smiled and started walking back towards the beach house to finish dinner.

* * *

Avery was jogging back to his car, filled with half excitement and half dread for the event that was about to transpire. Even after the somewhat uplifting conversation with his two new acquaintances, he couldn't help but let the same negative thoughts and undesirable possible outcomes plague his conscience.

 _Curse you, brain, for working like this._ Avery thought bitterly.

However, the thought of Steven and Pearl did lighten his thought process.

 _I wonder what those two and the other 'gems' might have in store for me._ Avery pondered with a half smirk.

Looking slightly up, Avery noticed the sky was much less gloomy. Most of the viewable clouds were a bright yellow and the sky itself was a color between blue and purple. Both parts of the sky were due to the setting of the evening sun.

Finally reaching his car, Avery took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of the sea and the wet pavement one last time before heading off.

The combination of the pleasant sent and the view that could only be described as 'eye-candy', Avery thought back to something Steven has said earlier, and had to agree with him.

_I think I am going to like it here._


	3. Chapter 3

_Well… here it is._

From Avery's frame of reference, the building in front of him looked rather imposing. Granted, it most likely looked to be a regular hospital for most people, but the history Avery had with these facilities probably warped his image of them. Especially this one.

 _You can't stand here forever._ Avery thought. _What happened in there is in the past, you can't change it. You think that would have been drilled into your subconscious by now but no, you always have to make things more difficult than they have to be. Just suck it up and move your legs like a normal person, you idiotic-_

Too preoccupied with his own self berating to realize he had closed them, Avery opened his eyes, coming to the conclusion that A.) He had been physically cringing, and B.) His heartrate was much faster than it was normally.

Leaning against his car, Avery inhaled deeply then exhaled at the same intensity, keeping his repetitious breathing at a steady rhythm to calm himself.

 _It's ok… Everything is fine. You're being far too hard on yourself._ Avery thought.

He couldn't remember when he started to think like this. All that Avery knew that it wasn't something he was particularly fond of. The constant second guessing of his decisions (past, present, and future), the savage tearing and scolding he administered to himself regularly, it felt utterly crippling at times.

Be that as it may, Avery did agree with one thing his brain spoke to him: he couldn't stand there forever.

_Okay, since thankfully that's out of my system, let's see if I can manage to not make myself look like a fool or a psychotic in front of this Ms. Maheswaran._

In a few strides (albeit slightly shaky ones), Avery found himself inside the building. Nothing of much note appeared to be going on, just a to-be patients in the waiting room and a woman at helm of the front desk. Since he didn't know where exactly his hopeful employer was, said woman seemed to be the next logical target.

"Excuse me, do you know where Dr. Maheswaran's office is?" Avery inquired "I'm here for an interview."

"Oh, sure!" The receptionist answered with a smile. "She's on the third floor at the end of the main hall."

"Thank you."

With that, Avery set off.

While en route towards his destination, Avery took a look at his surroundings and remembered just how much he disliked hospitals. Maybe it was the harsh florescent lighting, the noticeable scent of antiseptic, the dull linoleum floors or a combination of these and other assorted features, but to Avery hospitals always seemed to be such an inorganic place. Even with prior horrible experiences taken out of consideration, Avery never really felt comfortable in these places and dreaded going to them.

_Maybe it's intentional. I mean, I suppose it is a doctor's job to get people well again so they can continue their daily lives, so I guess it would make sense not to make the place not so comfortable that a patient doesn't want to leave. Regardless, you better get used to the place, you're going to be working in it. At least hopefully._

Saving his observations for another time, Avery arrived at the third floor. He could only assume he was at the main hall, as at the end of the corridor he was in stood a door with a small metal plaque emblazoned with the words "Dr. Maheswaran".

 _There we are_ Thought Avery, walking towards the door with both newly found determination and spring in his step.

Avery knocked at the door, hearing the shuffle of steps and a female voice in the middle of a conversation, most likely over the phone.

"Tell her she can go, but she has to be back before dark. Alright, I have to go, somebody's at my door. Love you too, Doug."

Upon the ending of that proclamation, the speaker opened the door to reveal herself. She had long brown hair, dark skin, and wore a lab coat and grey pants.

_I hope she doesn't recognize me._

"Can I help you?" She asked

"Yes, I take it you're Dr. Maheswaran?"

"Well I would hope so, they didn't put my name on the door just for fun you know." The Doctor said, half serious, half joking.

"I would assume." Avery said whilst chuckling. He stuck out his hand and continued. "I'm Avery Pemberton, I was told to meet you for an interview."

"Oh, so you're Avery." Dr. Maheswaran said, placing her own hand in Avery's to shake it. "Yes, of course, step inside please."

Avery did just that. Looking around the doctor's office, he didn't see anything of much note. Just a few chairs, a desk and various documents and diplomas on the walls. The only thing that caught his eye was a picture of the doctor with two other people. She stood alongside a man around her height, wearing a furry jacket and glasses, and a young girl with the doctor's same dark skin who also wore glasses.

 _Must be her family._ Avery thought.

"So," the doctor started, snapping Avery out of his observant tendencies. "Hopefully the drive over here wasn't too much of a hassle."

"Oh no, not at all. Just fine, actually, if a little bumpy."

The doctor gave a half laugh, laced with more bitterness than actual humor.

"Yes, we really do need to smoothen out the roads. Mayor Dewey keeps saying 'We'll get to it eventually' but eventually never comes."

"Sorry to hear that. Sounds like a massive headache."

"Well, all we can really do is hope for the best. Anyways, What do you think of Beach City?"

Avery thought back to the exchange he had with Steven and Pearl, smiling all the while.

"I'm liking it. Sure, I've only been here for a couple hours, but it's made a great impression so far. I've heard the climate is fair, the ocean is absolutely gorgeous, and locals seem rather nice."

"Oh, so you've already met some of the townspeople? Who exactly did you meet, I've probably heard of them through one way or another."

"Oh, guessing you've definitely heard of these folks: I had a bit of an encounter with the town's supposed protectors."

"Ah, so you've met our fabled Crystal Gems. Hopefully they didn't scare you too much." Dr. Maheswaran said with a small laugh.

"On the contrary, I found the two that I've met quite delightful."

"Which two did you meet? Wait, before you answer, I want to see if I can deduce one of them."

"Go right ahead."

"Did one of them go by the name Steven?"

"You're correct, one of them was indeed Mr. Universe."

"Tch, I still have doubts if that's his real last name or not."

"Well, even if it isn't, you can't deny it would be a great last name."

"I suppose I can't." The doctor said in a slightly defeated tone.

While Avery was enjoying the light conversation between himself and Dr. Maheswaran, he couldn't help but notice something was slightly off.

_This is… Surprisingly casual for an interview_

It was so much so that Avery wished to voice his concern for it.

"Say, uh, Dr. Maheswaran?"

"Oh, please, call me Priyanka."

"Very well, Priyanka. I'm enjoying our conversation, I really am, but you're being rather lax for this interview."

Priyanka looked at Avery in a confused manner.

"You think this is an interview?"

"… It isn't?"

"You must've misinterpreted our message. To answer your question: No, it isn't. This is more of a job acceptance meeting."

Avery looked at Priyanka disbelievingly.

"Hold on, you're serious?"

"As I'm guessing you've seen, Beach City is a relatively small place. With the constant incidents related to the Gems happening so frequently people get hurt, both physically and mentally. So, when you emailed the hospital seeing if there were any open positions we happily made room for you. We're needing all the help we can get over here."

Avery leaned back in the chair he was currently sitting and let loose a large breath of air.

"Is something wrong?" Priyanka asked

Avery smiled and said with relief filled in his voice:

"The exact opposite. You just took a huge weight off my shoulders."

Priyanka smiled in return "I'm glad I could be of service."

"So, what exactly am I needing to do to accept?"

"Not much, just some paperwork. Though there is one thing I'm wanting to ask you. Now keep in mind, this is more for my sake than anyone else's, but I still want you to be honest with me."

Avery became slightly worried at the way she phrased that sentence, but still wanted to know what the question was.

"Ask away."

Priyanka's face then morphed into one of great sympathy.

"Are you… feeling any better?"

Avery's heart started to pound and his pupils dilated.

_Oh God. She does recognize me, doesn't she?_

Avery sighed. "I suppose there's no use avoiding this, is there?"

Priyanka answered "I'm sorry. I understand that this is an uncomfortable topic, but I still need to know. Both for professional and personal reasons."

Avery's face then became stoic.

"Very well. To answer your question, yes I am. I'm not going to lie to you and say my feelings have completely gone away, but there has been a noticeable improvement."

"That'll have to do. Again, I apologize for bringing this up."

Avery smiled sadly at his employer.

"Don't be, it was something that needed to be addressed."

"I've just been rather worried since you left here those few years ago. I'd honestly never met somebody so… fatalistic."

Avery cringed at that last word, mostly because it was true. Back then and even to some degree now.

"Well, sorry if I sound cliché by saying this, but that was then. This is now. Like I said, everything hasn't magically gone away, but I can at least promise you this: I'll try my absolute best to not let this interfere with my work."

Priyanka smiled at Avery.

"I appreciate that."

Standing up behind her desk, the doctor proceeded to offer her hand to the man in front of her.

"Congratulations, Avery: You've got yourself a job."

Avery smiled graciously at the woman before him at took her hand in his.

"Thank you so much! I won't let you down!"

After receiving his paperwork, Avery left the office with a large grin plastered on his face. Priyanka watched the man turn down the hall out of her sight. She was happy for him and knew he would be a great help around the hospital, those were for certain. However, she couldn't help but think of he said before he left.

"'I won't let you down, eh?"

She frowned worriedly.

"I hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

'Strange' was most certainly a word Avery could use to describe how he felt when he woke up.

Except he was relatively certain he wasn't awake yet because rather than lying down in his bed, he was standing up in a field surrounded by mountains. A sharp contrast to both the geographical location of Beach City and the hotel he thought for certain he was present in before he turned in early after his job acceptance.

' _Funny'_ Avery thought, taking a look around his current area. _'This place looks pretty similar to…'_

Avery would've finished that internal sentence with 'home', but his train of thought was interrupted when he saw said place of past residence appear in his field of vision.

' _Okay… I take it its very safe to assume that this is a dream'_

Regardless of what state of realism he was currently in, Avery decided to press onward towards the house in the distance.

Shabby wasn't a half bad descriptor for his former home. It wasn't completely ugly or appeared uninhabitable, but it definitely showed signs of wear and age in multiple places. The paint was peeling on several places, the concreate steps leading to the porch had many cracks, and from what Avery could recall the boards on said porch were loose and creaky in places.

' _Just like I remember.'_ Thought Avery with a small nostalgic smile.

As he got closer to the house, Avery noticed two figures standing out of the front of it.

' _Hey, is that… Margaret and Dad?'_

Avery's assumptions were made correct, getting ever so slightly closer to see his father and sister smiling and waving at him.

Becoming somewhat elated (not having seen his family in some time, be it reality or dreams), Avery picked up his pace and continued towards his destination.

Suddenly, both his family and the house vanished.

Avery stopped walking, dumbfounded at what just happened. What perplexed him most about the disappearance was that it wasn't instantaneous. If Avery could describe it in any way it was like his house and family… disintegrated. As if they were a pile of dust blown away by a strong wind.

Alarmed and slightly disturbed, Avery looked around the field to see if he could find something, anything to distract him from what just happened.

Soon enough he did, though it was someone rather than something. Standing alone in the field's clearing, Avery saw _him_ standing alone.

He was dressed in what Avery remembered as his usual attire: A white button up shirt with dark slacks and casual shoes, glasses perched atop his narrow nose. Behind said glasses laid a pair of dark eyes (fitting well with his spiked dark brown hair) that always seemed to brim with intensity. This time, however, the intensity seemed to be mixed with something else… sympathy, as far as Avery could tell.

After standing for what felt like several minutes in silence, wide-eyed and confused, Avery decided to address the extremely large ethereal elephant in the room.

"Kyle? What in the world are you doing-"

Before Avery could finish his statement, the man he was addressing vanished similarly to how his family and house did earlier.

"Wait, please don't go!" Avery said, reaching out in vain to try and grasp some fragment of his old friend.

It was too late, though. He was gone.

And it was after this vanishing act that all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, the sky darkened to a near jet black, light only bursting through when the clouds were torn by a savage bolt of lightning, followed by the almost explosive booming of thunder.

The mountains, or what Avery could see of them in the near darkness, appeared to be closing in around him. Avery wanted to move to try and find some way out, but his attempts were made fruitless as the ground itself seemed to hold him in place and suck him downward.

All of this was becoming far too much for Avery. The deafening and blinding effects of the storm, the mountains making everything extremely claustrophobic, and the ground which felt more like an abyss than anything made for a nightmarish combination.

' _Nightmarish'_ Avery thought. _'That's right, this is just a nightmare. I just have to wake up'_

…

' _Just have to wake UP.'_ Thought Avery, this time more forcefully.

...

…

' _Just… have to…'_

Avery began to feel himself slipping, falling out of whatever reality he had imagined.

…

…

…

* * *

"Okay Steven, let's try this again." Pearl said, trying to not let her exasperation show.

Picking up a piece of chalk and pointing to the blackboard she recently acquired from the old public school, Pearl gestured towards the problem displayed and began to explain it for the umpteenth time.

"With the information we know about this triangle, what function should we use to solve it: Sine, Cosine, or Tangent?"

"U-u-uummm…" Steven stuttered helplessly. What did each function mean again? Also, what would the side next to the xbe labeled, opposite or adjacent? There were so many things buzzing around Steven's head and he didn't know what he should tackle first.

"Isn't it obvious, Pearl?" Steven said with a simultaneously confident yet nervous smile.

"Oh, is it now?" Pearl said in a deadpanned manner. "If it's so obvious, then tell me which it is."

"It's, uh… Sine, Cosine or Tangent, of course." Steven said, bracing for the worst.

"Ugh, Steven," Pearl said pleadingly, hands tangled in her peach hair. "Why is this so difficult for you? I can't teach you if I don't know what the problem is."

Steven felt a small pang of guilt, feeling he let his surrogate mother down. Regardless, he went on to explain what was troubling him so much.

"It's just that there's so much to deal with in these problems, and all these different functions swirl around in my head, and then I don't know what to do first, and because of that I can't tell what's what!"

Upon finishing his rant, Steven plopped his head face down on the table he was using as a makeshift desk, and while in this position said, words muffled by the wood: "I'm sorry Pearl. I guess I'm not smart enough."

"Oh Steven, don't say that." Pearl said consolingly, stroking the boy's dark hair. "I apologize if I'm trying too hard, but I just want to make sure you know the basic skills needed to get by on this planet."

"Then why can't I just go to the public school?"

Pearl sighed. "Steven, you know why I don't want you going there. I just don't think they could provide an effective learning environment for somebody who functions like you."

"Well… okay, if you think so." Steven said, finding his argument easily defused.

"Why don't we try solving that problem again? I think you're very close to getting it" Pearl said assuredly, though at the same time she knew what she said was somewhat false.

"And I think you both need a break." Said a voice from beyond the temple doors.

Said voice belonged to Garnet, striding into the room, finished with whatever particular Gem business she had partaken in.

"Steven, you've been cooped up in here all day, why don't you get some fresh air?" Garnet said

Steven looked to Pearl pleadingly, stars in his eyes and a smile on his face.

' _Drat. My one true weakness.'_ Pearl thought humorously.

"Alright, go ahead." Pearl said with a sigh, smiling despite herself.

"Sweet! See ya Garnet, See ya Pearl!"

Just as Steven was about to run out the door, he stopped, turned around and rummaged for a piece of paper. Once he found one, he went back to his 'desk' and began to scribble down the problems written on the blackboard.

"What're you doing?" Asked Pearl.

"I'm gonna see if being outside helps me think any better, so I'm bringing the problems with me."

"Do you really think that's going to make any difference?"

Garnet walked up to Steven, ruffling his hair in encouragement.

"Couldn't hurt to try." She said.

Pearl shrugged in agreement, and with one last 'Buh-Bye' from Steven, he left.

Garnet surveyed the chalk writings on the blackboard. Turning to her pale friend who was absentmindedly cleaning the kitchen, she said:

"I think you might be trying too hard."

Pearl sighed. "As you've told me many times. I've also told you just as many times that-"

"You just want Steven to be prepared." Garnet finished. "I understand this, and I agree with you wanting to teach him. However," Garnet said whilst gesturing toward the blackboard. "I think the material you're trying to convey to him is a bit too advanced for someone his age."

"Maybe you're right." Said Pearl, looking down at Steven from the window she was near.

"I just wish there was some way I could get him to understand the information."

Luckily for Pearl, Steven was about to run into that something.

Or in this case, someone.

* * *

Steven was currently on the main road looking for something to occupy himself with while thinking over the problems he had so miserably attempted to solve earlier. He thought about calling Connie to see if she could help, but he remembered she had Violin practice. Steven was about to call it quits and just head over to the Fry Shop to get something to eat, but then he saw a certain dark haired individual he met yesterday sitting at the beach.

"Hey, Avery!" Steven called out, running towards the man in question.

Avery turned to the boy who addressed him and smiled. He could use a bit of cheer after the night he had.

"Hello again, Steven. How are you this afternoon?"

"Eh, I'm okay, I guess. What about you?" Steven's face suddenly turned worried "You don't look so good."

Steven was observant. Avery was looking rather pale (At least paler than he usually was) and had dark rings under his eyes.

"Oh, I just had a bit of a rough night, that's all."

"Why is that? Did your interview not go well?"

"Just the opposite, actually." Avery said, brightening up exponentially. "Turns out it wasn't an interview at all, it was a job acceptance."

"Oh, that's great! I guess you could say that…" Steven's hand proceeded to do a jazzy shake, as if presenting something. " _ **Avery-thing**_ went according to plan!"

Steven was half expecting silence after that remark, but instead he was treated to a laugh. Not a fake laugh like he received so many other times when he told a pun, but a legitimate one.

Avery responded "That was pretty awesome, I won't lie to you. Also, yes, I guess you could say that."

Both Avery and Steven shared a good laugh with that statement.

"Say, though," Avery continued "Where's this 'I guess' coming from, is everything all right?"

"Oh, I just can't seem to solve these problems that Pearl gave me."

"So Pearl's your teacher as well?"

"Sorta, a couple weeks ago she started homeschooling me. She keeps saying that 'she can teach better than any public school can'."

"I see. I think I'd have to agree with her."

"Really?"

"Well, this may just be personal bias, but I've never been the biggest fan of the academic environment. From what I've experienced, it quashes creativity and penalizes you heavily for thinking freely. Also, Pearl seems more than intelligent, so I'm guessing her saying that she can teach better is more than just conjecture."

Avery guessed that his phrasing was too complex, because upon looking back at Steven, he could see the boy's eyes were slightly glazed.

"… Too many big words?" Avery questioned.

"Kinda," Steven said with a slight giggle "But I got most of what you were saying."

Avery gave a half laugh in response.

"Fair enough. So, is there any chance you could show me some of these problems?"

Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out his piece of paper he wrote on earlier, handing it to Avery.

"Wow, Pearl certainly has high expectations of you if these are the problems she's giving you."

"I'll say."

Avery looked at the problems, wracking his brain on how Sine, Cosine, and Tangent worked, when he heard a noise from beside him.

* _grumble*_

Avery turned to Steven, a smirk painting his face. "Hungry, are we?"

Steven blushed, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"Well, you can't think on an empty stomach, now can't you? Where are you wanting to eat, it's on me… within reason."

"Really?" said Steven, beaming Avery on of his trademark smiles.

"Of course."

"Alright! How about the Fry Shop?"

"Fry Shop, huh? I've heard some good things about that place. Sure, why not?"

Both Steven and Avery got up, walking down the street towards their destination. They were about to continue their conversation from earlier, but were interrupted by loud voice coming from in front of the Fry Shop.

"C'mon, kid, how hard is it to make a stupid batch of Fry Bits!?"

"Amethyst, how many times do I have to tell you and Steven that the bits aren't an actual menu item?"

The exchange was going on between a golden haired boy around Steven's age and a…

' _Purple woman?'_ Avery thought

"Hey Amethyst, Hey Peedee!" Steven said

"Hey Steven." The pair Steven addressed said in unison.

"Who's this?" The supposed Amethyst asked, looking at Avery.

"Oh, this is Avery. He's the guy that I talked to you about yesterday."

"Oh, yeah, that's right." Amethyst stuck out her hand "Nice to meet ya!"

Avery reciprocated the handshake "Nice to meet you too, I take it you're one of Steve-"

Avery's voice was cut short by Amethyst's exceedingly strong handshake, it practically shaking him around.

Amethyst's laughter was more than prevalent after that little escapade, and after it subsided she answered with:

"God, I love doing that! Also, if you're wondering if I'm one of Steven's mom's, I sorta am. I'm more like a big sister."

"I see." Avery said, trying to regain his balance "Goodness, you have a strong grip."

"Ha, I get that a lot. So, what're you two doin' here?"

"Avery was just gonna get me something here and then we were gonna talk about some of Pearl's schooling stuff."

"Ugh, that again? I swear, Pearl needs to lay off on that crap."

"Well," Avery interjected "I think that Pearl probably has the bar set too high, but I don't think Steven's schooling should be thrown out the window entirely."

"Oh, is that so?" Amethyst said with a devilish grin playing at her lips.

' _What's she planning?'_ Avery thought worriedly.

Suddenly, Amethyst was engulfed in a flash of purple light, and a second later there stood... Avery. Except much more purple.

"Well, aren't I just a big smarty pants who already knows what's best for Steven?" Amethyst-Avery said in a mocking voice of the real Avery.

Said man was standing in utter shock and awe at the event that had just transpired.

"Aw no." Amethyst said, reverting back to her original shape. "I broke him, didn't I?"

"Quite the contrary, Madame that was spectacular! How did you do that!?"

"Wait, you thought that was… cool?"

"Of course I did! Who wouldn't?"

Amethyst was surprised. "A lot of people, actually. Most folks I try that on usually run away." Amethyst was smiling despite what she just said.

"Well, like I said to Pearl, I'm not most folks. Say, are you wanting anything? I'd be happy to pay."

"You for real?" Amethyst asked happily.

"Sure, as clichéd as this saying is, the more the merrier. That and you just showed me shapeshifting is possible so I think that deserves some kind of appreciation."

"SWEET!" Amethyst exclaimed. She was starting to like this guy.

"So," PeeDee addressed to the party "I'm guessing I don't need to ask you two," he said looking at Steven and Amethyst "But what'll it be?"

"BITS! BITS! BITS! BITS!" Steven and Amethyst chanted.

"What else did I expect?" said PeeDee, begrudgingly preparing these supposed 'bits'.

The boy looked away from his work for a moment to address Avery. "What about you, what're you having?"

"I'll just have a small order of fries." Said Avery, wanting to make sure the boy's workload was as light as possible.

"Comin' right up!"

After a couple minutes of waiting, their food was ready. Avery fished the necessary currency out of his wallet, and after paying for the pseudo-meal he, Steven, and Amethyst sat down at one of the several picnic-style tables dotting the outside of the Fry Shop.

"So," Avery started, pointing at one of the several messily draw triangles on Steven's sheet of paper. "You're learning about Sine, Cosine and Tangent?"

"Uh-huh." Said Steven. "I just wish I understood what they meant."

"Well, the words themselves you shouldn't pay much attention too, it's the functions that need to be worried about. Tell me, has Pearl told you about SOH CAH TOA?"

"SOH CAH… what?" Steven said confusedly.

"SOH CAH TOA. It's an acronym for 'Sine Opposite Hypotenuse, Cosine Adjacent Hypotenuse, and Tangent Opposite Adjacent." Avery said, writing down each word as he said them.

"This way, it's easy to remember what each function pertains too."

"Oooooh. I think I get it!" Steven said with a smile, comprehension dawning on his face

"That's good. Now," Avery pointed at a triangle on the paper "With this triangle, we know the length of the longest side, which is the…" Avery paused, looking at Steven expectedly.

Steven scoured his mind for all the terms Pearl taught him.

"The… Hypotenuse?"

"That's Right! We also know the length of the side right next to it, and that means that it's…"

"Hmmm… Adjacent?"

"Correct! Now, since we know those two sides, what function would we use?"

"It would be… Cosine, right?"

"Exactly!" Avery exclaimed, wearing an encouraging smile.

"I think I'm getting the hand of this!" Steven said triumphantly "Keep 'em coming!"

Keep them coming Avery did. He and Steven spent the next half hour or so going over the other problems, and while Steven made a tiny mistake here or there, he essentially got most of the other questions correct. Amethyst, meanwhile, was watching with mild interest, feeling the same amount of elation that Steven did when solving a problem.

"Wooo, I am on Fire!" Steven shouted.

"Those problems didn't stand a chay-unce!" Amethyst chimed in.

Gathering his paper and throwing away his leftover fry bits in a waste basket, Steven then rushed towards the beach house.

"Hey, where are you going?" Avery questioned.

"I'm gonna test this stuff out for real. Thank you so much, Avery!"

"Don't mention it!" the young man called after.

The next several moments were occupied with comfortable silence between Avery and Amethyst, until it was broken by the gem saying:

"Nice kid, isn't he?"

"That's the understatement of the century." Avery said with a small laugh. "I've never met a being filled with so much raw energy and happiness."

"That's Steven for ya. Doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or what you do: He's happy to call you a friend."

"That's a good trait to have."

"You better believe it is." Amethyst said while standing up. "Well, I think I'm gonna head home myself. Nice meeting you, thanks for the bits."

"Nice meeting you as well."

With that, the purple woman went down the same trail as Steven to the beach house.

* * *

"Test me!" proclaimed Steven as he flung open the door.

Pearl and Garnet turned toward the boy, snapped out of the conversation they were currently having.

"Oh, so you're ready to go over the problems again?" Pearl said with a slight smile, eager to teach.

"No need," Steven said whilst getting in his makeshift desk. "Just give me the test!"

Pearl's face transformed into one of surprise and worry. "Are you sure, Steven? We've barely covered the material."

"Trust me, Pearl: I think I've got this." Steven said proudly.

"Well… if you insist."

Fishing through sheets of homeschooling she had ordered recently, Pearl found the test relating to the material she and Steven had been discussing.

Handing the sheet to Steven, the boy began to test his knowledge. For the next approximate twenty minutes, all that could be heard was the furious sound of pencil scribbling on paper and the occasional 'Hmmm" from Steven.

"I'm finished!" Steven exclaimed, arms skyward in celebration.

"Alright, let's see how you did." Pearl said, striding over towards Steven.

Taking the test from the boy, Pearl could hardly believe her eyes.

"Steven, this is fantastic! I mean, granted, problems 2 and 7 are incorrect, but other than that, they're all right! How did you learn this so fast?"

"SOH CAH TOA!"

"… Pardon?" Pearl said in confusion.

"It's an acronym that Avery taught me to remember those functions."

"Avery? You mean that man you met yesterday?"

"That's the one! We talked about this stuff over fry bits. He made things really easy to understand."

"I see…" Pearl said, blank faced.

"I know that face." Said Garnet "What're you planning?"

Garnet could barely say her piece before Pearl ran out the door saying "I'll be right back!"

The slender gem was currently heading down towards the beach, hoping to find a glimpse of the man she was searching for.

Sure enough, there he was, sitting on the beach where she last talked to him.

"Excuse me." She called out to him.

Avery turned to the voice, thinking for certain it was addressing him as he was the only one on the beach.

"Ah, Pearl! It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you as well." Pearl said honestly. She recalled being pleasantly surprised when she first conversed with Avery.

"What can I help you with?" The man in question inquired.

"Would you be interested in being Steven's tutor?" Pearl asked suddenly.

"Come again?"

"I heard from Steven that you helped him with my homeschooling and it appeared to click so well with him. You also, in all honesty, would seem like a good influence on Steven. I think it's quite obvious that he's taken a shine to you and I think this would make for some good bonding between the two of you. I'm sorry for springing this upon you so suddenly, so please take all the time you need to answer."

Avery smiled at the gem before him. "There's no need for that. I'd be happy to."

"You would? Thank you so much!"

The two discussed the scheduling for the tutoring, shook each other's hands in agreement and went their separate ways.

As Avery started to head back to his car, he looked towards the horizon to see a gorgeous purple-pink sunset.

Avery smiled once again.

' _Maybe moments like these could keep nightmares like last night's away… I can only hope, I suppose."_


	5. Chapter 5

Avery would've liked to say he had a decent night's sleep, but the sad reality was that was extremely far from the truth.

This time wasn't due to strange nightmares, however, but rather the root cause was just due to restlessness. No matter how hard he tried, Avery just couldn't seem to get even an hour's worth of shuteye without some form of sleep depriving interruption. Be it a dog barking or a car driving by, there were many fleeting noises of the night hell bent on disturbing whatever chance Avery had at a sound slumber.

' _And here I thought a town like this would be quiet.'_ Avery pondered ruefully.

Although, He couldn't complain too much. He was already legitimately loving this town. The people seemed nice, the views were gorgeous, and he already had made a few acquaintances. Even more surprising was that they were in the form of supernatural beings.

Sitting up on his bed, about to prepare for the morning ahead, Avery could help but smile when he thought about Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst. He was lucky to have met such extraordinary so early in his new life at Beach City. Avery let his mind wander very much like a child, and wondered just what kind of unbelievable facets these Crystal Gems could add to his life. However, he hadn't the time to think about this all morning. He had a brand new day ahead of himself! Such a day required preparation.

After showering (thankfully the hotel water supply let him have a warm shower all the way through), Avery went through the mundane motions of getting ready for his day: Combing his hair, brushing his teeth, rummaging through his suitcase to find a new set of clothes, etcetera.

And with that, Avery was ready. However, before Avery was able to waltz out of his hotel room, he heard a noise emanating from his pocket.

_*Ring, ring, ring, ring*_

Releasing his phone from its confines, Avery surveyed it to see who was calling. It was a number that seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall exactly who it was.

' _Well, might as well answer it.'_

Upon thinking this, Avery held his phone to his ear, pressed the 'Answer' button and said "Hello?"

"Yes, hello." A slightly gruff voice answered on the other end of the line. "Is this Avery Pemberton?"

"This is him speaking, yes."

"Hi there, I'm Al from Movers & Shakers."

"Oh, yes, I've been expecting you." Movers & Shakers was the moving company Avery decided upon before he made his trek out to Beach City.

"I just called to say that your stuff should be there sooner than expected, I think about 3:00 in the afternoon."

"Is that so? That's great to hear, thank you so much!"

"No problem, and thank you for choosing Movers & Shakers."

With that, the two men said their goodbyes and hung up. Avery was elated, he wasn't expecting all of his belongings to arrive at least until a couple days from now. Since that mishap was now corrected, he could finally move into the house he had purchased online.

Stepping out of his hotel room with very visible happiness, Avery walked down to the lobby and subsequently the parking lot of the hotel. He was about to get in his car and head down to the beach to kill some time (like he had been doing for the past couple of days) when Avery was hit by a damning realization: his car was filthy. He supposed he hadn't noticed, being slightly distracted by past nervousness of the move and the wonder of witnessing somebody shapeshift into himself, but the fact still stood.

' _Well then, I obviously can't drive around town with a car like this. I should probably get it washed.'_

Luckily for Avery, he remembered seeing a carwash nearby the Fry Shop where yesterday's antics with Steven and Amethyst took place. As such, he stepped into his car and set out towards the location.

Upon driving out of the parking lot and on to the main road, Avery looked to the heavens to see the sky very much like it was the first day he arrived at Beach City: Slate grey with patches of azure poking holes into the sheet of clouds.

' _Is it wrong of me for kind of wanting it to rain?'_ Avery thought with a small smile. As far back as he could remember, he adored the rain.

Repositioning his attention back onto his driving, Avery saw his destination it the not-to-far distance in the form of a neon elephant sign: the 'It's a Wash' car wash.

The establishment looked like it had seen better years, but is wasn't downright dilapidated. The wash seemed to have only one main washing line, which was understandable given the size of the town it was located in. Excluding the van out in front with the extremely bright decals plastered all over it, not much else really caught Avery's eye.

On the subject of the van, Avery could see a man rummaging in the back of it.

' _Maybe it's the wash's owner?" Avery pondered._

Regardless of who it was, Avery supposed he would figure out sooner than later as he had pulled up to the front of the wash. Getting out of his vehicle, Avery looked towards the van. The man behind it seemed too preoccupied with his search for whatever it was he intended to find, so Avery decided to address him.

"Excuse me." He said.

The man in the van stopped his search and looked out towards Avery.

"Hi there! What can I do for ya?"

The man was overweight, clearly obvious from the elasticity of his white tank-top and jean shorts being stretched a fair degree. What was also obvious about the man was a severely prominent farmer's tan from wearing a T-shirt too long, out there for the town to see due to the previously mentioned tank-top. Another glaring feature (quite literally, due to what little sun that was out was shining directly upon it) was the large bald spot capping his head. This, however, was paired with long and flowing mane of hair gliding down the back side of his head. The man's most noticeable observable trait (at least to Avery) was his large, beaming smile.

"I was just wondering if you were the owner of this car wash."

"You hit the nail on the head! I take it you need a wash?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Avery said with a smile.

"Then a wash you'll get!" the man said exuberantly. "I hope you don't mind a hand wash, though, the main line is busted."

"Oh, that's no problem."

With that, the portly individual ran inside his building and came out a few moments later with the supplies necessary to carry out the upcoming endeavor: A pail, a sponge, and a hose.

Just as he started to turn on his hose to begin his work, the man turned to Avery and said:

"So, are you new around here? I've never seen you before."

"You're perceptive. I just came to town a couple days ago, I'm officially moving into my new house here today."

"That's great! It's nice to see new faces around town." The man stuck out his hand in welcoming fashion. "I'm Greg, by the way. Greg Universe."

Avery took Greg's hand in his. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Greg. My name is Avery."

"Nice to meet ya!"

Avery was about to continue on with the conversation, when something struck him mentally.

"Wait, did you say your last name was Universe?"

"Indeed it is! Pretty sweet, huh?"

Avery chuckled. "I've actually heard it before. You wouldn't happen to be related to Steven Universe, would you?"

"Related? I'm his-"

"Dad!"

Greg peered behind Avery and laughed. "Well, that. Hey, Steve-o!"

Avery turned around to see Steven bounding towards him and Greg, a smile as big as Greg's on his face. He ran past Avery and leaped into his father's arms, both him and Greg hugging each other with great ferocity.

"Hey, dad! I see you've just met Avery."

"Yeah, I was just about to give him a wash." Greg said. "So, how do you know each other?"

"Steven was actually one of the first people I met here." Aver said, picking up the conversation. "He made quite the first impression, I can tell you that much."

"What do you mean?" Greg questioned.

"I showed him some of my gem powers, of course!" Steven said.

"Oh really?" Greg said whilst chuckling nervously. He turned to Avery and said "So, you weren't scared away?"

"On the contrary, I thought it was incredible."

"Oh. Well, that's good."

"Yeah, Avery's a good guy." Steven said. "He's actually the one who helped me solve those math problems I told you I was having trouble with."

"Is that so? Wow, thanks for that! When Steven showed me that stuff I couldn't quite wrap my head around it."

Avery smiled back at the two. "Oh, I was just trying to help, it's no big deal. Say, on the subject of those problems, I'm not sure if Pearl has told you yet, but apparently I'm your tutor now. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, Pearl told me, and I'm more than okay with it!" Steven exclaimed. "You made everything so easy to understand, I hadn't felt that smart in a long time. I'd be happy to have you tutor me!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Avery said. Just as he was about to continue the conversation, he felt a familiar buzz in his pocket. Taking his phone out, he looked at it the see the number of Movers & Shakers displayed upon it.

"Excuse me, I have to take this." Avery said to the father and son.

Pressing the 'Answer' button, Avery opened with "Yes, hello?"

"Hi there, Al again from Movers & Shakers. It pains me to say this, but I have some bad news."

"What kind of bad news?" Avery said cautiously.

"You're stuff's going to be there on schedule, but the movers themselves are out for the day. You're gonna have to move it yourself."

"Are you serious? Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Sorry, all of our other movers already have an assignment." Al said, voice drenched in sympathy.

Avery sighed deeply. "Alright, fine. Thank you for notifying me."

"You bet. Try to have a good move."

"Oh, I'll try. I'm just not so sure how successful I will be." With that, Avery hung up.

"What's the matter?" Steven asked.

"Oh, there's been a snag in my moving plans. My belongings are going to arrive today, but there aren't any movers to help."

Steven gasped slightly before saying "I can help you!"

Avery chuckled. "That's a very kind offer, but I have quite a few things to unpack."

"No, I'm serious! I could get the gems to help, and Dad too!" Steven turned to his father. "Right, dad?"

Greg put a hand on his chin in thought, before smiling and saying "Yeah, I can help!"

"Hold on, are you sure?" Avery inquired, surprised beyond belief.

"Of course I am."

"But we've only just met."

"Yeah, and you also barely know my son and are going to help him get a higher education. That's proof enough that you're a decent guy in my book. Besides, I need to pay you back for tutoring Steven somehow."

Avery looked between the father-son duo and smiled. "You two are far too nice, you know that?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Steven asked.

"Heh. I suppose it is." Avery said.

* * *

Several hours later, after passing the time conversing with Steven and Greg, all the while getting his car washed to a mirror sheen, Avery was standing in front of his new house waiting for his belongings to arrive.

The house was located in the suburbs of Beach City, and was fairly newly constructed. It only had one floor, which was fine for Avery considering he was the only one living there, and was painted his favorite color: Deep Navy Blue. Call him superficial, but that was part of the reason Avery decided to purchase this particular house.

Suddenly, Avery heard a rumbling in the distance. Looking over to where the sound was emanating, he could see it was coming from a large semi-truck with the caption 'Movers & Shakers' printed on its sides.

' _Finally.'_ Avery thought.

The truck pulled up in front of Avery's house, kicking up clouds of dust as it came closer. As it did so, the window facing Avery was rolled down, revealing the driver.

"Hi, I take it your Avery Pemberton?" the driver said.

"Yes, that's me." said Avery.

"I've got your stuff right in the back. Hey, sorry about the whole moving complication."

"Oh, it is okay, some folks around here are going to help."

"That's good to hear. I'd help you myself, but" The driver revealed a folded wheelchair from where he was sitting. "I'm kinda bound to this thing."

"Oh, I see. Well, no worries. I'm just happy you were able to get my belongings here so early."

A few minutes passed, with Avery moving some boxes out from the truck and into his house, when again he heard the sound of wheels on pavement closing in.

Avery looked from his porch to see Greg's van parked near his house. In front of it stood Pearl and Amethyst, who appeared to be bickering over something, with Steven and Greg trying to mediate it. There also stood a fifth figure among them as well, and she was strikingly familiar to Avery.

' _Wait, is that…?'_ Before he passed judgement on whether it was her or not, Avery decided to call her name and see if he was right.

"Garnet?" he called.

The tall gem looked toward Avery, a small smile playing on her usual stoic face when she caught sight of him. She began to walk towards him, and said in her usual neutral tone. "Well. It certainly has been some time, hasn't it?"

Avery jogged up to her, a smile on his face. "Indeed it has. How've you been?"

"Fine. And you? Have you been feeling better after… You know…"

Avery felt a pang of guilt, thinking back upon the event that she was referring to.

"I am feeling better. I wouldn't say I'm completely over it, but I've found ways of dealing with it."

"That's good." Garnet said.

"Hold on just a minute." Pearl said, stopping her argument with Amethyst. "You two know each other?"

"We met once when he was on vacation here a couple years ago." Garnet answered without as much as a hesitation. It wasn't a lie, per se, but it didn't give away all the information regarding said meeting.

And Avery was perfectly fine with that, if he was being honest with himself.

Pearl looked between Avery and Garnet incredulously before shrugging her shoulders and saying:

"Hm. Very Well."

"So tell me Pearl," Amethyst started "What inclines you to try and know everyone's business?" She said, obviously trying to get a rise from Pearl.

And a rise she did achieve.

"Amethyst!" Pearl exclaimed "I was just asking a simple question! Oh, why do you have to make everything so difficult?"

Amethyst began to cackle hysterically, with Pearl fuming at this reaction. She was about to walk over to Amethyst to give her a piece of her mind when Avery stopped her.

"Hey, it's alright. She's obviously just trying to make you angry, you and I both know that what you asked wasn't at all intrusive."

Pearl calmed herself with a deep breath. "I suppose you're right. My apologies for my outburst."

"It's perfectly fine. We all get angry sometimes."

"So," Greg called out to Avery "Where do you want us to start?"

"Oh, right." Avery recalled what it was they were supposed to be doing. "Bring in everything that resembles a bookshelf first. I have quite a few things to put on them."

"You're a real bookworm, eh?" Amethyst asked.

"Oh, I don't get me wrong, I have tons of books, but it's more than just that. There's movies, TV shows, CDs, video games…"

"Woah!" Steven shouted. "You play video games?"

"You know it."

"You… do?" Pearl asked skeptically. "I thought video games were just for children."

"Hey," Avery said defensively. "Don't insult an art form until you've actually experienced it."

"I'm sorry, but you consider those things an art form?" Pearl asked with a small playful chuckle.

Avery was about to continue the argument when an idea struck him. He turned to Steven and asked:

"Steven, do you have a Playstation 2?"

"Nope."

Upon hearing this (While at the same time feeling immense pity for Steven, not having experienced his favorite console), Avery went into the back of the semi and rummaged around until he found a box labeled 'PS2'. He grabbed the system, a few controllers and a small handful of games, making sure he found one specific game to give to Pearl. He walked out of the truck and handed the system to Steven.

"Here, take this."

Steven gasped in wonderment, his eyes starry. "You're really giving this to me?"

"Trust me, Steven: You need to experience this. Besides, I have another."

Steven squealed in delight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

"And as for you," Avery said whilst turning to Pearl "When Steven isn't on that, I highly recommend playing this."

Avery handed Pearl a game case and she studied the front of it. It depicted a man on horseback raising a sword to a giant beast of some sort. Pearl read the title out loud.

"Shadow of the Colossus… what kind of game is this?"

"That, my friend, is in my opinion a work of art that rivals the Mona Lisa and Mozart's Requiem. I especially stand by the Requiem piece because this game's soundtrack is amazing." Avery gushed.

"Hmmm…" Pearl thought. She found it somewhat silly that a grown man would defend what she thought were child's toys with the same sacredness as a work of ark or a symphony, but she couldn't help but take notice to the pure pride and sincerity in his voice when he talked about it. Pearl wondered if she could trust his judgement, but then she thought:

' _Well, I obviously do somewhat. I mean just yesterday I asked him on a whim to be Steven's tutor because he would be a good influence upon him. Hmmm…'_

Pearl turned the game's case over, smiling as she gained a sudden inclination to read more about it.

"… Okay, sure, why not?"

"That's great!" Avery exclaimed "I guarantee you'll enjoy it!"

"You know," Amethyst said "When you guys are done flirting, we've already started moving stuff."

"A-AMETHYST!" Pearl shrieked after the purple gem. She went into the semi and grabbed several boxes, blushing all the while.

Avery chuckled to himself at what had just occurred. He was happy to call these beings his… was it too soon to call them friends? He had only met them a couple of days ago, yet here they were, helping him move in.

' _Regardless'_ Avery thought, still smiling at what Amethyst had said. _'Things certainly are going to be interesting.'_


	6. Chapter 6

"I know I've said this before, but thank you all so much." Avery said.

Boxes were piled high as Avery and his impromptu moving crew sat around the newly arranged furniture, eating delicious pizza of the 'Fish Stew' variety at Steven's request. Avery wasn't sure where the name came from, but he supposed that wasn't much of a concern at this point. What did concern him, however, was Pearl. Throughout their entire meal she hadn't eaten a single bite. Whether it was because she couldn't eat pizza or she was on a diet, Avery decided to address the small elephant in the room.

"I'm sorry, Pearl, if you aren't able to eat any of this. I could've gotten something different."

"What? Oh no, its fine." Pearl said. "I just don't find interest in eating."

"So, wait," Avery started, looking between Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet. "You guys don't need to eat?"

"Or sleep. Or breathe air. We're kinda special like that." Amethyst said proudly.

"… I've only know you guys for a few days and yet you've already shattered my reality on more than one level." Avery said, smiling despite himself. "So, why are you eating?" Avery asked the purple woman.

"'Cuz I think its fun." She said

"And you?" Avery asked Garnet.

"I only do this when I feel like it."

"I observe. Well," Avery said whilst turning to Pearl. "Is there anything I can do for you after all you've done to help?"

"Oh, please." Pearl said, blushing with modesty. "I barely did anything comparatively to the other."

"Pearl, you alphabetized essentially all of my belongings." Avery said, gesturing around to the numerous shelves filling the room. All of which were just as he said: Alphabetized without as much as an error.

Pearl must've found the floor very interesting at that moment, as her gaze was set intently upon it.

"My apologies. It's just in my nature to do things such as this." She said.

"I'm sorry, you're apologizing?" Avery questioned. "This is quite literally the most organized I've been in my life and it's all thanks to you."

If Pearl's teal blush wasn't prominent several moments ago, it certainly was now.

"So, my question still stands: What can I do for you?" Avery asked.

"Hmmm…" Pearl pondered. She didn't really know what to ask of this human. He did seem rather kind and intellectual, but Pearl wasn't certain on whether he could help with anything gem related. Besides, he was already going to tutor Steven, so she felt asking any more of him might be greedy.

Pearl was about to decline his offer, when Amethyst jokingly interjected with a mouthful of pizza:

"You can tutor Steven for free."

Pearl sighed deeply. "Amethyst don't be ridiculous, we're obviously going to pay-"

"Done." Avery interrupted.

"… Pardon me?" Pearl questioned.

"I was already thinking about making the tutoring free, you saying just makes it official."

"Are you sure about this?" Pearl inquired further.

"Of course I am. I need to help the protectors of Beach City somehow, now don't I?"

"Thank you." Garnet said bluntly. "You're kindness is much appreciated."

Greg began to chuckle after she said this. "You're way too nice, you know that Avery?"

"Hey, you stole my line!" Avery exclaimed, smiling all the while.

The whole group had a good laugh after that outburst. Though in Garnet's case it wasn't a laugh, it was more like a quiet chuckle. The group settled into a comfortable silence for a couple minutes until it was disturbed by a dry cough from Steven.

"You okay, Steve-O?" Greg asked his child.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I'm just a little thirsty." Said the boy

"Oh, if that's the case," Avery started "can I get you something? Though be warned: I don't have much else at the current moment besides tea."

"Tea works for me!" Steven said.

"Oh, may I help you?" Pearl said "I absolutely adore tea."

"If it isn't too much trouble, I would also like some." Garnet stated.

"Same on this end." Greg added.

"Can I get you anything, Amethyst?" Avery asked.

"Nah, I'll pass." The purple gem answered.

"Very well. Four teas it is."

With that, Avery and Pearl adjourned to the kitchen down the hall.

Turning her head as they exited, Garnet could see the two down the hall from her vantage point. Seeing as she didn't have much else to do, she decided watch the two in their preparations to make tea.

Garnet took note of Avery first.

' _He certainly has grown. Both physically and mentally.'_ Garnet noted.

Garnet chuckled to herself, remembering the Avery she met several years ago being much more lanky and spindly. His body has definitely evened out since that time.

Garnet's chuckle within her cerebrum died down, however, when she surveyed the mental side of the young man.

He seemed to be just as intelligent as he was when Garnet first met him, maybe even more so. Moreover, from the way Garnet had seen him acting throughout the evening, Avery seemed to have a somewhat more positive outlook in general.

' _That's always a plus.'_ Garnet thought.

Still, the tall gem couldn't help but be slightly worried at what Avery had said to her earlier.

'' _I wouldn't say I'm completely over it', huh? ... I'm going to have to keep watch of that.'_ Garnet pondered in a paranoid fashion.

To keep her mind off of the worried thoughts and several grotesque outcomes her future vision was providing, Garnet decided to focus upon Pearl at the current moment. And what she saw truly surprised her.

Pearl looked like she was having a pleasant time. It didn't appear she was just faking being happy (Garnet knew all too well that appearance) just to appease Avery either.

' _Well,'_ Garnet thought with a small smile. _'This is certainly a nice change of pace.'_

Garnet noted how well Pearl and Avery seemed to get along. They were both smiling and laughing, conversation flowing as easily as water would flow from a faucet.

She knew she was somewhat foolish to feel it, knowing the kind of person that Pearl was, but Garnet felt a bit of a fluttering in her… well, she couldn't say stomach because she didn't have one, but you get the picture.

' _Whatever happens, I just hope they end up being friends. I know they both need one."_

* * *

"Let's see… What kind of tea do you think Steven would like?" Avery asked Pearl.

"Steven is rather partial to sweet things, so the fruitiest one you have will do just fine." The slender gem answered, gathering and setting 5 coffee mugs into place.

"Very well." Avery rummaged around in his tea collection until he found a blend infused with blueberry and lemon. "What about Greg?"

"From what I remember of him he likes caffeine, anything with that he would probably like."

"I've got just the thing." Avery gave a look over his teas before he found one labeled 'Morning Thunder'.

"And Garnet?"

"Oh, she'll take just about anything. Surprise her." Pearl giggled slightly, Garnet's future vision on her mind. "If you can, that is."

"What do you mean?" Avery inquired.

"Oh, I take it you'll learn one of these days."

Avery looked at Pearl inquisitively for a moment before shrugging it off, putting his attention back to the tea.

"As for me," Pearl began. "I'll take green tea, if you have it."

"As you wish, Madame." Avery said in a jokingly formal voice whilst giving a half bow.

Pearl started to laugh slightly at that little display. Then suddenly, she thought:

' _I don't believe this. I'm… enjoying myself. With a human, no less.'_

Pearl was flabbergasted. She couldn't remember having this much fun in a conversation, let alone with a human. That last part in particular astonished the pale gem: She just assumed all humans were either A: Boring, B: Stupid, or C: an abominable combination of both.

' _Well, I suppose I shouldn't just jump to conclusions so fast. After all, there is always an exception to every rule… As much as I abhor that fact."_ Pearl thought with slight disgust. _"I despise rule breaking. Though…"_ Pearl looked to Avery, feeling a slight bond forming between them. _'I suppose for this one I could make an 'exception'.'_ Pearl pondered, chuckling at her own joke.

Avery must've noticed this chuckle, because soon after it he asked: "What's so funny?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing, I was just thinking of something." Pearl answered. "So tell me, what got you so interested in tea?"

"Well, to be quite honest with you, I wasn't the biggest fan when I was younger. However, my sister is a huge tea nut so in my family it was either 'conform or be cast out'." Avery said in a mock-ominous voice.

"Was that a Subdivisions reference?" Greg called from down the hall.

"You're amazing for getting that." Avery hollered back

"What is 'Subdivisions'?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, it's a song by the band Rush. You should check it out, it's a great piece."

"I see."

"Anyways, I have a question to ask you, if you don't mind."

"What might this question be?" Pearl inquired.

"Where exactly did you, Garnet, and Amethyst come from?"

Pearl paused for a moment, wondering how to word her next statement properly without giving too much away.

' _Should I let him in on our history? I don't know him all that well. Then again, I don't know why, but I already feel… something forming between us. Even though I'm not entirely sure what this 'something' is. … Okay, sure, why not?'_

Pearl peered out the window above the sink and looked skyward. The evening sun was dipping well below the horizon, painting the sky a deep indigo with orange surrounding its edges. Some stars had already appeared, shimmering like diamonds.

"Out there." Pearl finally answered, eyes still locked on the sky.

"'Out there' as in space?" Avery asked further.

"That's correct, yes."

"Wow…" said Avery, absolutely taken aback. He stood next to Pearl at her spot in front of the sink, his eyes upon the stars. "I've always been fascinated by space."

"Have you, now?"

"Of course, who wouldn't? All those fascinating things inside of a space far too infinite for any person to comprehend. I'm not going to lie to you, it's slightly terrifying, but wondrous at the same time. Plus…" Avery said, his eyes still star gazing. "It's downright beautiful."

Pearl smiled at her new friend. "I feel the same way. Albeit without the slight terror that you see in it."

Despite the good time she was having, Pearl couldn't help but frown. She stared out into the infinite, wishing she could somehow be there. Especially alongside Rose. Goodness, she missed her.

"Is something the matter?" Avery asked.

"Huh? Oh, It's nothing." She tried to brush off the question.

"No, it's obviously something, you seem upset." Avery pressed further. "Are you wanting to talk about it?"

And Pearl sighed deeply. "I just wish sometimes things could go back to the way they were. Just me, her, Garnet against space: Literal galaxies of possibilities at out fingertips."

"Who's this 'her'?" asked Avery.

Pearl felt the strong sensation to fight off tears. "Rose Quartz, our old leader. She's Steven's mother."

"Oh really? Then where is she…" Avery would've continued, if not for the fact that a small stream of tears was rolling down Pearl's cheek. Avery understood that reaction could only mean one thing.

"I'll be back in a second." Avery said whilst running out of the kitchen.

Hurrying back to the living room, he grabbed a box of tissues and announced to the others:

"Tea should be ready shortly."

Jogging back to the kitchen, he handed Pearl the tissues.

"I'm sorry. That was obviously a sensitive topic, I shouldn't have pried."

Pearl took a tissue out of the box and blew her pointy nose with it. "No, it's fine. You couldn't have known that. Besides, it's healthy to talk about it once in a while. I know I don't do that enough."

Upon Pearl saying that, a thought struck Avery.

"You know, Pearl, I understand that we don't know each other terribly well, but if you ever need somebody to talk to, I'm here for you. And before you say something along the lines of 'Oh, but you're a human, what could you understand', admittedly you do have a point. If you do decide to talk with me, there are likely going to be things I don't understand, but at least you're getting the thoughts out there. Like you said moments ago, it's healthy just to talk about these things."

A few moments after his monologue, Pearl turned to Avery with a warm and watery smile.

"Thank you so much. I'll give it some thought."

With that, the duo continued to make tea. After several minutes, it was ready to serve.

The next couple of hours were spent conversing, laughing, and just generally having a pleasant evening. That was until the tea finally got to Steven and he began to fall asleep. The Gems, Greg and (without much of a choice) Steven decided to head back once this happened.

The Crew started to head back towards Greg's van when Pearl lingered and turned to Avery who was on the porch. She said with absolute sincerity:

"If you're ever in the area, please stop by. We'd be happy to have you over."

Avery smiled. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

And with that, the two went their separate ways for the evening.


	7. Chapter 7

3 hours and 47 minutes.

That's how long Avery had been trying to get a decent night's rest. Key emphasis on the word 'trying'.

No matter how hard Avery attempted to think otherwise, his brain would become plagued with thoughts that would be considered by any normal person beyond negative.

' _This is ridiculous.'_ Avery thought. _'You had a great time tonight with some wonderful people, what is there to feel so negative about?'_

Avery thought back to the many times when he was like this: What was it that triggered this state of mind? Usually, with him, it wasn't so much what **had** happened, but what **will** happen.

' _Okay, so then what's going on tomorrow? Let's see… I should probably head to the store to pick up some food and supplies. I also need to drop off that paperwork to Priyanka. What else is there? Oh, right, tomorrow is the first day I tutor Steven-'_

At this point in his thought process, Avery switched from recollection to obsession.

' _Oh god, what should I do? What if I'm not the best tutor, it was just luck that I remembered those trigonometric principles. There's always a chance Pearl has something even more difficult up her sleeve to teach, what if I can't teach if properly? Then I'd look like an idiot in front of my new friends. Lord knows they're probably going to be the only ones you get in this town, you antisocial prick-'_

Avery stopped his rapidly speeding train of thought, cringing at his own mental insult. He got out of bed, went a few doors down the hall and entered his restroom. Turning on the cold water from the sink, Avery pooled the running liquid into his hands and splashed it onto his face. The cold was bracing, but refreshing.

' _Alright.'_ Avery thought, taking deep and steady breaths to even out his heartrate. _'Have some confidence in yourself. And before you go and say there's no reason to have any of that, brain, just listen: Pearl picked you because she thought you were A: intelligent and B: a good influence on a developing young mind. Those are both things to be proud about, wouldn't you say?'_

His brain could find no snide or cruel remark to that.

' _That's what I thought.'_

With that, Avery decided that this could be chalked up as an exercise (considering how exhausted he felt after it) and decided to head back to his bed to hopefully get the respite he so utterly deserved. It took an extra half an hour, but eventually he did.

* * *

 

While most people would disagree with him, Avery thought it was a beautiful day.

It was raining, somewhere between a downpour and a drizzle, the sky above grey as ash with no sign of blue anywhere near the immediate area.

' _Just the way I like it.'_ Avery thought as he stepped from out of his car, opening his umbrella to protect himself from the oncoming torrent of water.

Avery had just delivered his paperwork to Priyanka, and was on his way to the store to pick up some goods. He was about to walk in the front doors when he saw a familiar slender figure out of the side of his vision, struggling to balance some bags whilst holding an umbrella.

"Oh, Pearl!" Avery called out to the gem.

Pearl looked up and smiled upon seeing Avery, happy to see somebody who could help her.

"Ah, hello Avery. Say, would I be asking too much if I said 'could you help me with these'?" She asked with a slight nervous chuckle.

"Not at all, I'd be happy to help." Avery said, grabbing most of the bags from Pearl. "Let's see, how far is your house from here?"

"It's a pretty decent walk away." Pearl said, starting to see the fault in her plan.

"Not to worry, we can just use my car."

"Thank you so much." Stated Pearl, voice dripping with gratitude.

As the duo headed towards Avery's automobile, Pearl couldn't help but notice the small smile playing at his lips and the refreshed spring in his step.

"You seem to be in a good mood." The gem said, her own lips forming a smile seeing the man beside her so happy. "What's put you in this state?"

"Oh, I'm just a big fan of the rain."

"Is that so?" said Pearl, surprised at Avery's response.

"What, is it that surprising to you that somebody actually likes rain?" Avery said with a slight laugh.

"Well, I suppose not, I myself just don't care much for rain. The way I see it, it puts quite a damper on productivity, forcing you to stay inside for the most part."

"I can definitely see where you're coming from. However, the rain always makes me feel cozy. Maybe it's because of the good memories I have with it, or possibly it's due to me being a very introverted person and thus I spend most of my free time inside. Regardless, rain just gives me a good feeling."

Avery turned to Pearl to see her staring and smiling at him. For whatever reason, it was starting to make Avery feel very vulnerable.

"I-Is something the matter?" He asked, a blush starting to dust his cheeks.

"Oh, nothing's the matter. I just like it when you're happy. I don't know why, but for whatever reason it's… infectious, I guess would be the right word."

Pearl must have noticed Avery's blush, because then she proceeded to ask:

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm feeling fine. I'm just not very used to a beautiful woman like yourself staring at me like that."

At this statement, it was Pearl's turn to blush.

"O-oh. I see." Pearl stuttered out, trying to keep a neutral face.

"I'm sorry if what I said made you feel at all uncomfortable." Avery said, wanting to cover his tracks after he realized what he had just said.

"No, it's perfectly fine," said Pearl "I'm just not very used to people calling me beautiful."

"Really? I find that hard to believe."

"How so?" Pearl asked.

' _Well,'_ thought Avery _'I already tested the waters, might as well dive in.'_

"Pearl, C'mon: You're beyond beautiful, anyone who isn't blind could tell you that. Not only that, but from what I've seen of you you're extremely intelligent and beyond caring. Also, and this is just a small thing: You protect a city using your magical powers. Pearl, in the modern using of an old fashioned word: you're a goddess."

At this point in time, Pearl's usually pale complexion was replace mostly by the color teal.

"Again," Avery started "I'm sorry if that made you feel-"

"No, no, no," Pearl interrupted "Its fine. Thank you, actually, I needed to hear that." she added with a smile. "To be honest with you, I wasn't having the best day."

"Really?' Avery questioned. "I'm sorry to hear that. What's making that so?"

"Well, like I said, I don't care much for rain, so that isn't helping matters. Secondly, Amethyst is being as argumentative as ever. Also, recently I can't help but still feel so guilty over…"

"Over what?" Avery asked, his intrigue piqued.

Pearl was going to say over tricking Garnet into fusing with her. She knew that Garnet had forgiven her, but she still hadn't necessarily forgiven herself. Pearl thought for a moment on whether or not she should tell Avery, and at last decided that she would keep this to herself for the time being.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm at a place where I can be comfortable in sharing this. I hope that doesn't bother you."

"Of course not." Avery said politely. "I wouldn't at all want to make you feel… well, I take it you know what I'm about to say."

Pearl gave a small laugh at that statement. Soon after, however, her face morphed into one of worry.

"I take it that wasn't all there is to your day?" Avery inquired.

"Sadly, that's true. I don't know why, but Steven's been acting… strange since yesterday."

"Strange? Strange how?"

"Well, he hasn't been eating as much as he usually does, he's been much more quiet, and most of his free-time he's spent staring at our portrait of Rose."

"Hmmm… I see." Avery said, a pensive hand on his chin. "Tell me, has there been a time where you've mentioned Rose Quartz in conversation since yesterday."

"No, the most recent time I've mentioned Rose anywhere near Steven was when we were making tea yesterday."

"Let's see… the door to the kitchen wasn't too far from the living room. Do you think maybe he heard you talking about Rose when you were crying?"

Pearl eyes widened as she came to a realization.

"Oh no, Steven might think this is another scabbard incident."

"Scabbard incident? What does that mean?"

Pearl looked down to the concrete below, her expression exponentially saddened.

"A while ago, Steven discovered something I didn't know about Rose which was related to her sword's scabbard. As a result, I had what you humans would call a 'meltdown' and said some things to Steven that I'm not necessarily proud of."

"I observe." Said Avery. "This all sounds very confusing for the both of you."

Pearl sighed deeply. "It really is."

The two stood in silence for several moments. Avery was thinking of was he could assist in Pearl's problem, when a thought struck him.

"You know, when I'm done tutoring Steven this afternoon, I'd be happy to stay back for a while and talk to him."

Pearl looked to Avery questioningly.

"Are you sure that would help Steven?" She asked.

"Positive. Look, I'm a therapist, talking to people about their problems is my livelihood, you should trust that I at least know what I'm doing. Besides, when I've dealt with instances like these with former clients, I know that most of the time, while they do appreciate the familiarity of a loved one talking to them," Avery gestured to Pearl "In this case you, they would prefer to have a neutral viewpoint on matters such as these."

Pearl looked upwards in thought for a while, until finally she said:

"Okay. I'm trusting you."

Avery smiled. "I thank you for your trust. You can count on me."

Pearl grinned back at the man before her. "I know I can."

With that, the two walked the remaining distance to Avery's car, loaded in Pearl's groceries and started to drive towards the beach house.

"So," Avery started "I see you've got quite a few groceries there. Since you and Garnet don't really eat, how much food can Steven and Amethyst need?" he said with a small chuckle.

"Believe me, more than you would think." Pearl said in an exasperated tone. "Between you and me, I will never understand eating for recreation."

"Well, a lot of the time when humans are bored we turn to food because it gives us something to focus on. It may not be as substantial of an experience as watching a movie or listening to a Pink Floyd album, but eating is an experience nonetheless."

Pearl turned to Avery confusedly. "What's 'Pink Floyd'?"

"What!?" Avery turned to the passenger's seat, shocked that Pearl hadn't at least heard of his favorite band. "Come now, in all your years of living you must have at least heard the name Pink Floyd."

"Maybe once in a passing conversation with Greg, but I don't really bother listening to human music."

"Oh, Pearl," Avery looked to his friend. It was difficult to tell whether the sadness on his face was real or a jest. "You poor child."

"Child!? Do you know how old I really am?"

Avery chuckled "I do, that was supposed to be the joke."

"Oh." Pearl said. "I see. Well, regardless, why do you get so up in arms when somebody hasn't 'played this' or 'listened to that'?"

"Are you kidding me?" At this point in time Avery went on to explain in detail how "Art was of the highest importance to him" and how "Experiences outweigh most other things in life because that's all life really is". Pearl wasn't paying too much attention to what he was saying, however. What she was really paying attention to was the smile painted on Avery's face and the jubilant tone in his voice from talking about some of his favorite things.

' _He reminds me of Steven when he gets like this.'_ Pearl thought.

Avery turned to see Pearl staring at him much like she was several minutes ago in the parking lot. That vulnerable feeling started to creep up inside of him again.

"Pearl? You're uh… staring at me again."

Pearl's face shifted to one of surprise, and then to one of embarrassment.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I hope I didn't make you feel-"

"Uncomfortable?" Avery finished Pearl's sentence with a smug grin on his face. "Not at all."

The two continued to converse about several different topics before they got to the beach house.

"Are you sure you don't need help carrying those in?" Avery said, referring the bags in the car's trunk.

"Trust me, I'll be fine."

"If you say so"

Pearl gathered her groceries and was about to head into the beach house, but before she did so she turned to Avery and said:

"Thank you so much for your help today! You made my day much better."

"Of course. I had a swell time with you today. I hope to see you in a couple hours."

"You as well."

And with that, Avery drove off. When he did so, he looked in the rearview mirror to look at Pearl for a bit longer.

' _She's something else, that woman.'_


	8. Chapter 8

Avery could see where Pearl was coming from during their talk earlier: Steven did seem distant.

Having come to the beach house around half an hour ago to begin Steven's tutoring, Avery was at first greeted with the usual exuberance he expected from Steven. However, as soon as the actual tutoring began, that happiness dissipated rather quickly.

Steven's focus as well seemed to have died down. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, as his focus did appear rather strong, just not for the tasks he and Avery were covering. No, his focus instead was on the portrait that Avery could only assume was Rose Quartz.

Feeling slightly troubled for Steven and also wanted to keep his promise to Pearl from earlier, Avery began to prod for an answer to Steven's unusual behavior.

"You seem not yourself, Steven." Avery started "Is something wrong?"

Steven's focus still intently on the portrait, he didn't answer to Avery's inquiry at first. As such, the young man tried to address Steven once more.

"Steven…?"

Suddenly, Steven asked Avery:

"You have a mom, right?"

And now it was Avery's turn to be distant, as he could feel something he buried deep within his psyche come up front and center. The bitterness, the confusion, the anger and sadness, everything came flooding back to Avery all at once. He suppose he couldn't blame Steven, however, for this rush of emotion.

Avery must've been silent for some time after Steven asked his question, so the boy decided to ask it once more.

"Well? Do you?"

"Admittedly I used to, but not anymore. She died in a car wreck."

"Oh." Steven's face shifted to one of guilt. "I'm sorry for bringing that up. Now I feel bad." He replied sadly.

"Hey, there's no reason to feel bad." Avery said comfortingly. "Your question was a valid one and there was no way you could've have known what happened to my mom."

"Still…" Steven said, looking down to the floor.

"Look, would you mind if we changed the subject slightly?"

"Okay."

"Alright, then let me ask you this: What made you want to ask your question in the first place?"

Steven looked to the floor once more before facing Avery. "Can you keep a secret from Pearl?"

Avery looked to Steven questioningly. "That depends on what you want me to keep from her."

Steven's face returned to its previous guilty state. "Yesterday I eavesdropped on you and Pearl talking."

"Oh, that's it? I already knew about that."

Steven looked surprised. "You did?"

"Steven, from where me and Pearl were talking I'm guessing it would have been difficult not to eavesdrop. That's nothing to feel guilty about."

"Okay, if you say so." Steven looked very much relieved.

"Still," Avery said, back to business. "What made you want to eavesdrop?"

"Well… I just heard you guys talking about my mom, so I guess I was just curious about what Pearl would say. When she started crying, I guess I just assumed the worst."

"I see. Well, it's obvious that Pearl cared much for your mother, so I'm guessing any mention of her around Pearl might have… adverse effects."

"Anyways, ever since yesterday my head's been filled with all kinda thoughts about my mom."

"Thoughts like?"

Steven looked hesitant. Whatever he was going to say, it didn't seem like an easy topic to converse about.

"… Should I feel bad that I don't really feel sad about my mom being gone?"

"Ah." Avery said. "Is there any chance you could give me more details about how you're feeling about this in particular?"

"It's just that, well, I know my mom was this great person, the gems talk about her like that all the time. I'm guessing she would have made a great mom too, but… how can I be sad about her being gone if I never knew her?"

"I see." Avery looked to Steven sympathetically. He could somewhat relate to Steven's plight. "That sounds like it must be very confusing to deal with."

"It is."

"Well, just keep this in mind: People deal with death in very different ways. Your life is filled with many strange and peculiar things, it's only natural to feel more confused than anything when dealing with something as complicated as this."

"Hmmm…" Steven still looked as pensive as ever.

"Is something else on your mind?" Avery asked.

"A couple things, yeah."

"Would you like to talk about them?

"… I'd like that, yeah."

"Very well. What else would you like to talk about?" Avery said. "I'm listening." He added with a warm smile.

And so, Steven and Avery spent the next hour talking about the several things that were swirling around the boy's head. These included Steven feeling inadequate compared to his mother and him not really knowing what he is due to him being a gem-human hybrid. Surprisingly, despite the complexity of these subjects Steven was posing him with, Avery was able to answer most of them with skill and swiftness. This put Steven at great ease, and soon enough the two's conversation shifted into lighthearted joking and laughing.

However, unaware of this happening, the two were being listened in on. In her room, ear pressed against her door, Pearl was listening to see what was on Steven's mind.

' _Oh, Steven.'_ She thought. _'I knew you were dealing with some confusing thoughts, but I didn't know they were this complex.'_

Deciding to split the task of comforting Steven with Avery, Pearl stepped out of her room and into the living room.

"Oh, hi Pearl! What's up-"Steven was quickly silenced by a hug from the pale gem.

"I'm sorry if I made you think those confusing thoughts." She apologized whilst stroking Steven's hair, tears forming in her eyes. "And for the record I don't care what you do or how you feel: You'll always be wonderful in my eyes. In all of ours."

At this point in time, Steven began to hug back Pearl with great intensity. All the while, Avery was smiling at the boy and his surrogate mother's show of affection.

"Its okay, Pearl. You don't need to cry." Steven said.

"I'm sorry." Pearl said with a small chuckle. "You know how emotional I can be."

"I know." Said Steven, looking up and smiling at Pearl. The slender Gem smiled back.

"Well," Avery started "I think I'll give you two some privacy. Thanks for having me over, hopefully I was of help."

"Wait!" Pearl called out.

"Yes?" Asked Avery.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Pearl inquired "I was just about to prepare it."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose."

"Oh, pishposh, you'd be imposing nothing. Besides, I have to pay you back somehow for helping me earlier today."

"Yeah, C'mon Avery!" Steven exclaimed. "You'd be missing out: Pearl's a great cook!"

Avery smiled, delighted at his friends' hospitality.

"Well, how can I say no to that offer?"

"Alright!" Steven said.

Steven began to then list off the thigs they could do while eating. Avery was listening interestedly, trying to appease the boy, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Said tapping was being performed by Pearl.

"Is there any chance I could talk with you outside?" She asked.

"Of course." Replied Avery.

"Thank you."

Pearl then proceeded to lead Avery out to the house's deck overlooking the sea. It had stopped raining, so there was no need for an umbrella of any sort.

"I hope you don't mind, but I listened in on you and Steven talking."

"I don't mind at all, in fact I was expecting you to do so."

"Very well. Regardless, I couldn't help but noticed how well you handled Steven's problems."

"Well, like I told you, what I did in there was essentially what I do on a daily basis for my job."

"Exactly. Which is why I'd like to take you up on your offer."

Avery's thoughts recollected back to yesterday's conversation with Pearl.

"You mean when I said 'If you ever want someone to talk to, I'm here for you'?"

"That's correct." Pearl replied whilst rubbing a hand on her gem. "I just have so many things churning around in my head sometimes and it feels like I can't express them. But with you, I don't know why, but for some reason I feel like I can talk with you completely honestly."

"So, essentially what you're saying is that you want me to become your therapist?"

"Yes." Pearl answered with the upmost sincerity.

At this, Avery began to chuckle.

"What's funny?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, nothing in particular, I just find it interesting that you want to handle this in such a professional manner."

"What do you mean?"

"Pearl, I'd like to think that I'm your friend. As such, I'm at your beck and call, whenever you need me."

"You mean that?" Pearl inquired.

"Of course." Avery answered.

Suddenly, Pearl pulled Avery into a hug.

"Thank you."

After saying such, she pulled away.

"D-don't mention it." Avery attempted to say, trying to hear himself over the pounding of his heart he could hear in his ears.

"Now, what say I get you and Steven some dinner ready?"

"Oh, I'll come help."

"That would be lovely, thank you."

With that, Pearl headed back inside.

Avery was about to follow suit, but something occurred to him. What this 'something' was strangely enough, was Pearl herself. Avery didn't know why, but he couldn't help but notice things that he hadn't taken to much mind to before. These being things such as the elegance of her form, the beautiful paleness of her skin, and the deep blueness of her eyes.

' _Huh.'_ Avery thought. _'Strange.'_

Shrugging it off, hoping it was just a spur of the moment thought after the hug Pearl had given him, Avery went back inside to help with the dinner preparations.

However, Avery couldn't just shrug it off.

' _I wonder… could this mean anything?'_


	9. Chapter 9

"Thank you so much for such a lovely evening!" Avery said as he was walking out of the door to the beach house.

"Of course. It was a pleasure to have you over." Pearl said with a smile on her face.

"Feel free to come by whenever you want to hang." Said Steven. "We can watch more Crying Breakfast Friends when you do!"

"O-oh, yes… right." Avery said whilst trying to keep a neutral face.

He didn't want to make Steven feel bad, but he found the program he had shown him to be downright laughably bad. He knew Pearl felt the same way, as on the odd occasion when he and the gem locked eyes, they were filled with noticeable traces of sympathy for having to view the show. Still, Avery did have legitimate fun with Pearl and Steven, and the meal Pearl had prepared was simple, but delicious.

"Anyways, have a good night!" Avery said.

"You as well!" Pearl and Steven called our simultaneously.

With that Avery walked out into the cool evening air.

Looking skyward, Avery noticed many of the day's clouds had dissipated by now, the ones remaining being colored a misty purple-pink (the current shade of the sky) by the sun dropping below the sea.

' _God, that's beautiful.'_ Avery thought. _'Mr. Sun, you can be quite the painter sometimes.'_

As Avery began to walk back towards his car, Avery couldn't help but think back to those times Pearl and he had made eye contact earlier. He wouldn't like to admit it, but whenever that happened his heart began to beat much faster when it happened. The depth and beauty of the elegant gem's eyes was hard not to notice, and Avery wished he could stare into them longer before she turned away…

' _Stop it.'_ The logical side of Avery's brain began to scold. _'She may be your friend, but you barely know her.'_

True enough. Avery had only known Pearl for, what, three or four days? It was silly to think that he would have such strong feelings for somebody he was only just getting to know.

But yet somehow, to another side of Avery's brain… It didn't seem silly at all.

Avery didn't like to think of himself as anything close to a hopeless romantic, but he still would like to think that you could become attached to a person after a small window of time.

' _Maybe,'_ the logical side spoke again. _'But you've also never been in a romantic relationship in your entire life. What makes you think you know what to do in a situation like this?"_

Another fair point. Avery had been far too busy with his schooling as well as sorting out his emotional problems to even think about something even close to a romantic relationship. Sure, he had a crush or two, but they came as fast as they went. Maybe that's all Pearl was: A crush.

' _No, I don't think that's it.'_ The other side began to argue.

To label Pearl as only 'a crush' seemed somewhat preposterous to Avery. Regardless of whether it was the spark of something romantic or not, Avery could feel some kind of special bond forming between him and Pearl. After all, why else would somebody who's obviously not the biggest fan of humans be A: Sincerely happy to spend time and talk with one, and B: Willing to share thoughts that she very likely hasn't shared with anyone else with one?

' _True, but on the other hand-'_ His logical side started to reason.

' _Screw the other hand!'_ The other side shouted back.

Suddenly, Avery's brain was caught in the crossfire of two sides that both seemed right. Whenever one posed a convincing argument, the other shot right back with one just as sound.

' _Argh!'_ Avery thought with annoyance at his brain's feud. _'I need someone to talk to, I can't let this stew in my head.'_

Trouble was with that want was that there didn't seem to be much of anyone on hand Avery could talk to. Pearl, as much as he would like to talk to her, was out of the question given to topic he was wanting to converse about. Garnet seemed like a logical choice given her and Avery's history, but she didn't know where the tall gem was. And Priyanka, while she would also be a sound option given her role as a friendly boss, was likely busy at this hour and Avery didn't want to interrupt anything important with something as trivial as this.

Luckily, help was closer to Avery than he thought. Quite literally, as it was standing across the street washing the sidewalk with a hose, listening to whatever music was blaring through his headphones.

' _Greg, of course! Maybe he can offer some advice.'_

Avery began to walk towards 'It's a Wash', the neon sign illuminating where Greg had just sprayed his hose.

"Hey, Greg!" Avery called out whilst waving to the portly individual.

Greg's face turned blank for a moment, noticing the disturbance of sound. Turning to where the disturbance had emanated, his blank face was replaced with his trademark smile upon seeing who had called him.

"Heya, Avery! What can I do for ya?"

"Oh nothing much, I was just… wondering if you wanted to talk?" Avery petered out, realizing the flimsiness of his offer.

Luckily, flimsy was all Greg needed if ever he wanted to help.

"Sure thing!"

"You can finish your work, I'd be more than willing to wait." Avery said.

"No need, I was just doing the finishing touches." Greg said as he shut off his hose. "So, what's up?"

"Uh, well… say is there any chance we could go inside and talk?" Avery questioned. "I feel somewhat vulnerable out here in the open."

"Ah, so it's a private matter?" Greg inquired.

"Well, somewhat. I'll go into the details in a bit."

"Okay. C'mon, hop in." Greg said as he jerked his head towards his van.

Stepping into the passenger side and settling himself in his seat, Avery noted several things about the interior of Greg's van. One was a cot and some pillows laid out in the floor of the back end.

' _Oh, he lives here. That's… pretty sad.'_

The second item of interest to Avery was a guitar with well-worn chords propped up against the one of the van's corners. Avery couldn't help but smile seeing this, the item reminding him of his father.

As Greg stepped in the driver's side seat, Avery began their conversation with:

"Nice six-string."

"Hey, thanks!" Greg beamed. "Do you play?"

"Eh, I only know one song and I'm not very good at it. My dad is the one in my family who's the real player."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he's really into folk music so he picked up the guitar when he was pretty young. He can play really damn well, too. I'm surprised he didn't make a career out of it."

Upon Avery finishing his statement, Greg smile sadly.

"I'm sorry, did I upset you?" Avery asked, his face becoming suddenly worried.

"Oh no, it's fine." Greg reassured. "I just find it funny you said what you did about your pops and his music because I used to be a musician."

"Is that so? Why did you give it up?"

"Eh, life just happened. You sometimes just gotta look around and get your priorities straight." Greg said somewhat somberly "Having a son can do that." He added with a chuckle. "But hey, we're not here to talk about me. What's the issue?"

"Well…" Avery hesitated. He just realized he was talking to a person who was in love with a gem. This could work out better than Avery intended! Still, he couldn't help but feel he was blowing this whole thing out of proportion.

"It's somewhat silly," Avery continued. "I probably shouldn't even bother you with it."

"Oh, C'mon, I'm happy to listen!"

Before Avery could respond, Greg asked while pointing at the radio:

"Hey, you mind if I put on some tunes?"

"Not at all, go ahead."

And so, at Avery's go ahead, Greg fiddled with the radio's knobs until a soft hum of classic rock was drifting through the van's air.

"Anyways," Avery started. "I have a question to pose to you."

"Shoot." Said Greg.

Avery took a deep breath. He didn't know why he was so nervous. Regardless of his jitteriness, Avery pressed onward.

"Hypothetically, say there's this guy and this girl. Now, the guy just met this girl a couple days ago, but he feels like there's already a special connection between him and the girl. He also thinks that the girl feels this as well. However, then the guy starts to feel that his feelings towards her are more than platonic. At the same time, he doesn't want to scare her off by just proclaiming something that monumental out of the blue, He doesn't want to sever the connection he's feeling with her. What should this guy do about these feelings?

Avery looked to Greg. To say the man's look was smug was the understatement of the century.

"I don't know, that depends…" Greg said in a knowing manner. "… Who's the girl?"

Avery sighed deeply. "I was that obvious, huh?"

"Pretty much. So, c'mon, who's the girl? Tell me!" Greg exclaimed, bouncing up and down (which as a result shook the van) like a child.

Avery ran his fingers though his hair several times out of nervousness. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he spoke:

"… Pearl."

Greg stopped bouncing, his face turning into one of bafflement.

"You serious?"

Avery nodded in agreement.

"Wow… That's pretty heavy, man."

"Which is why I wanted to talk to you. You've obviously know Pearl for quite some time, what do you think I should do?"

"Well…" Greg said while scratching the back of his head. "I'm not sure where you should start. I mean for one, Pearl doesn't really like humans."

"I know that, but at the same time I feel that she at least… tolerates me. Every time I've seen her over the past couple of days she seemed genuinely happy to have my company. Plus, she trusted me enough to divulge some things about her past that were obviously painful for her."

"She did? What kind of things?"

"Mainly how she misses Space and, well… Rose."

Greg sighed, his face notably saddened.

"Oh, Pearl. Well, I'm just glad she's gonna talk to you about these things. I worry about her, sometimes."

"Your worry is well in place, Pearl seems to have quite a bit of baggage on her hands."

"Right. Maybe because of that you should wait to tell her how you feel."

"That's what I was thinking." Avery said

"Don't get me wrong, you should definitely tell her eventually. I mean, heck, if I was in your shoes I'd probably just proclaim it as soon as possible being the klutz I am." Greg said while laughing. "Though, you don't seem to be that kind of person." He added.

"I suppose you have a point." Said Avery with a smile. A moment later, however, that smile morphed into a face of slight disappointment. Greg must have noticed, because soon he asked:

"You feelin' okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I suppose so. It's just that… I mean I completely agree with you about waiting to tell her my feelings. Hell, I'm not even sure that in a week or so I'll still have these feelings. Yet for whatever reason, I'm driving myself crazy over somebody I hardly know. Because of that, some stupid part of me just wants to put all my chips on the table and tell her outright." Avery looked to Greg. "Is that strange?"

Greg smiled at Avery in a fatherly fashion. "Of course not. I felt the same way when I first met Rose. However, much like me and her, I think waiting will make things a lot smoother in the long run."

"Of course." Avery smiled at Greg appreciatively. "Thanks for talking with me."

"Don't mention it!"

After that being said, the two sat in a comfortable silence for some time. Avery was about to say something to Greg, but he quickly forgot about it as he heard a sound all too familiar to him coming from the radio. That sound being the chords to a song Avery hadn't listened too in ages.

"Would you mind turning the radio up?" Avery asked Greg.

"Oh, sure."

Greg turned a knob in a clockwise direction. Soon after, the opening lyrics to the song rang clearly in the air:

" _ **And then the past recedes**_ _ **  
**_ _ **and I won't be involved.**_ _ **  
**_ _ **The effort to be free**_ _ **  
**_ __ **seems pointless from above."**

Greg began to nod his head and smile, apparently getting into the song.

"I like the guitar on this." He said. "You know what song this is?"

"It's called The Past Recedes by John Frusciante." Avery responded, though his mind was elsewhere at the moment.

Part of Avery wanted to marvel at how such an obscure song was getting radio play, but that wasn't his main concern. No, Avery's main concern at the current moment was the torrential flood of memories that came rushing in his mind. Nights spent cramming for a test, laughing a playing games, long walks around his old neighborhood. All of which he was accompanied by a bespectacled figure of tall stature with spikey brown hair.

"Kyle…" Avery croaked out quietly.

"What's that?" Greg asked.

He got no answer, though. Avery was too preoccupied with listening to the song. The duo slipped back into a state of quiet, simply enjoying the song and each other's company. Eventually, though, the song ended. Greg broke the silence by saying:

"Looks like you and that song have some history."

"How could you tell?" Avery asked.

"Well, for one, you're crying."

Avery flinched and felt towards his eyes. They were moist.

"I'm sorry." Avery apologized. "That was just my best friend's favorite song. He passed away not too long ago."

"Oh." Greg's face suddenly turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened to him?"

Avery visibly cringed. That question brought up images of a crushed white substance and needles.

"I'd rather not talk about that."

"Okay." Greg put his hand on Avery's back. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's alright, it was a valid question."

"Why don't you head home? You look like you could use some rest."

"Good idea. Goodbye, Greg. Many thanks for hearing me out."

"Of course. If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by. I'd be happy to talk to you and give your car a wash!"

"Duly noted." With that, Avery stepped out of the van and headed back towards his own vehicle.

Peering up to the sky, Avery saw that the sky had considerably darkened, leaving only a faint halo of purplish-pink on the horizon. Because of the newly settled darkness, however, many stars were visible in the night sky. Avery stared into them, wondering what weird and wonderful things could be out there among the giant flaming balls in the infinite void.

With this thought in mind, Avery looked towards the beach house, thinking of all those things about Pearl and thought quietly aloud:

"It's easy to see why you feel in love with the heavens, Pearl. What isn't simple, however, Is how I've grown to love you… If this even is love."


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay Steven," said Avery, pointing at the paper before him and the boy. "Because of the structure of this sentence, what use of 'there' would you need to put in the blank?"

Steven sat across from Avery, scratching his head. Avery had been tutoring Steven for around two weeks at this point in time, and Pearl had wanted the both of them to start going over English next. Because of this, Avery figured he'd start out with some basic fill-in-the-blank questions.

"Hmmm… would it be… t-h-e-i-r?" Steven asked.

"That's correct! Good work!" Avery exclaimed.

"I am the English master!" Steven proclaimed, his arms raised skyward.

"Don't get cocky just yet." Avery said, smiling despite himself. "This is just simple stuff, things are going to get much more complex as we go on."

"I know, but can't I at least be happy for getting it right?" Steven questioned.

"I never said you couldn't be happy," Avery started in a semi-defensive tone. "I'm just saying don't get too ahead of yourself."

"If you say so."

Avery looked to his watch. An hour had passed since the tutoring had begun, the usual allotted time for the two of them.

"Wow, time certainly flies." Avery said. "Well, I think that's enough for today, Steven." He continued as he began to stand up.

"Okay." Steven said. "Hey, if you have some time to kill, you wanna stick around? We can watch Crying Breakfast Friends like last time!"

"Actually," Avery said, cutting off Steven. "I have my own show I want to introduce you to." He explained with a smile on his face.

"Really!?" Steven asked excitedly. "What is it?"

"Before I show it to you, I need to ask you: Are you ready to experience one the greatest adventures put on television?" Avery inquired in an overly dramatic tone.

Steven's eyes transformed into their trademarked starry look, the biggest smile Avery had ever seen plastered on his face. "You know I am!"

"Then let me be the first to introduce you…" Avery paused, reaching into his jacket pocket. "To this!"

Avery pulled out what seemed to be a DVD case. On the front there stood a man leaning back in what appeared to be space.

"Cowboy Bebop." Steven read the title in wonderment as he took the case from Avery. "What's this about?"

"Space bounty hunters."

"WHAT ARE WE DOING, WAITING AROUND HERE FOR!?" Steven shouted, nearly knocking Avery off of his feet. Apparently 'Space Bounty Hunters' was a happiness trigger for the boy. "LET"S GET WATCHING!"

"I couldn't agree with you more!" Avery complied.

The two were about to rush up to Steven's room, but suddenly Steven stopped and said:

"Wait!"

"What?" Avery asked.

"We can't watch something like this without popcorn."

"Hm. I suppose you have a point." Avery admitted.

"I'll get to making it!" Steven exclaimed, going over to the kitchen and rummaging around in the cupboards.

As Avery took a seat on the couch, waiting for the popcorn to be made, a question was posed to him by Steven:

"So, not sure if I asked you this before, but what made you want to move here?"

"You actually asked me this the day we met. It was for a job acceptance, remember?"

"I know that part. I mean did you move here for any emotional reason?"

Avery thought back upon his reasons for moving to Beach City. He couldn't lie and say no to Steven, as there were plenty of emotional reasons for moving here. However, Avery wasn't sure if he was necessarily ready to share them with anybody, let alone somebody as young as Steven.

"Oh, I had just lived in a big city for a while and I wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle." Avery said. It wasn't a lie, per se, but it also wasn't the whole truth as well.

"I see." Steven said. He was about to continue on, but his last statement was punctuated by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" the boy said. Upon opening the door, he revealed a girl around his height with brown hair and dark skin.

"Oh, hey Connie! What are you doing here so early?"

"Hi, Steven! Well, I figured I'd come to hand out for a bit before practice. That is, if you have the time."

"I always have time for you!"

"Great!" Connie said, walking inside. "Oh. Who might this be?" She asked while looking at Avery.

"Oh, this is Avery. He's that tutor I've told you about."

"I see." Connie said, walking up to Avery and holding out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Avery. I'm Connie Maheswaran."

Avery crouched down to Connie's height and took her hand in his. "Pleasure to meet you as well." He said, surprised at the girl's formality. Avery also realized something strikingly familiar about the girl, both in appearance and name.

"Oh." Avery said aloud, now realizing the similarities. "You must be Priyanka's daughter."

"How do you know my mom?" Connie asked.

"I work under her. I'm the new director of mental health over at the hospital."

"Ah, so you must be the Avery she talks about sometimes."

"She talks about me at your home?" Avery said, surprised to hear such a tidbit.

"Yeah. Needless to say, she isn't impressed with your work." Connie said.

Avery suddenly became very worried. "She isn't!? What is it that I'm doing wrong?"

Connie then started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Avery asked her.

"I was only joking. She's more than happy with your work."

"Oh… I suddenly feel very stupid."

The three of them had a good laugh at that statement.

"So," Connie started. "What are you guys doing?"

"We were just about to watch this apparently super awesome show that Avery likes." Steven said with excitement.

"What show might that be?" Connie questioned whilst turning to Avery again.

"Cowboy Bebop." He said "Ever heard of it?"

"I have, actually. My dad watched it when he was younger."

"Your father has good taste." Avery said with a slight chuckle.

"Would you mind if I watched it with you two?"

"Not at all. The more, the merrier!" Avery said.

With that said, Steven put the finishing touches on the popcorn and the three huddled around the TV in Steven's room.

"Oh, just a warning to the both of you: I hope you like jazz." Avery said, smiling with anticipation due to his favorite show about to play."

"I like jazz!" Connie said.

"I, uh, don't really listen to it." Said Steven.

"Trust me, you're going to love it by the end of this series." Avery said, preparing the remote control for the DVD player. "Well: Here we go!"

And thus, Avery pressed play.

* * *

"Well… It certainly is large." Said Pearl, slightly intimidated.

What Pearl was referring to was a gigantic pillar in the middle of the mountains. Set atop said pillar was an even larger spherical shaped thing covered in what appeared to be various different colored hexagonal gems. Those gems were currently firing out large bursts of energy, letting them loose mainly towards the sky. A few stray ones, however, were flying off into multiple different directions.

"If we don't destroy the protective casings to those gems and bubble them quickly, those blasts might head towards civilization." Garnet said. "We can't allow that to happen."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Amethyst said while brandishing her whip. "Let's go!"

"No." Garnet interjected calmly. "This is a problem too big for just the three of us. We need to fuse."

"I agree." Said Pearl. "Even though she is a bit reckless, Sugilite does seem like the best option for this occasion."

"That works for me!" Amethyst said excitedly.

"Actually," Garnet started, turning to Pearl. "We need a more methodical approach for this. I think Sardonyx would be more appropriate."

"Wait, what!?" Amethyst screamed questioningly.

Pearl was hesitant, surprised at Garnet's offer.

"Are… are you sure?"

Garnet smiled reassuringly and reached out her hand, preparing for fusion. "Yes. I am."

Pearl shyly inched closer to Garnet, her hand slowly reaching out to the taller gem's. At the last moment, however, Pearl's hand flinched and she retreated back several steps.

"I'm just not sure I'm ready after… you know…" Pearl said nervously, thinking back to the Sardonyx fiasco.

Garnet sighed deeply. "Pearl, you know I've forgiven you for all of that."

"You have, but I don't think I have just yet."

"Pearl, I understand, but you need to get over this one way or another. What if Steven's in danger and we need Sardonyx? We can't always just turn into Sugilite whenever something like this arises." Garnet said.

"As much as I don't wanna agree with her, Garnet's right." Amethyst said. "C'mon, P, you can't let guilt make every decision for you." She added with genuine worry.

Pearl consider what both her long-time friends had said, and hated to admit that they were both right. Still, she couldn't help but let guilt infect her conscience.

"I'm sorry, but… not this time. Maybe later, but not now." Pearl turned her back on Garnet and Amethyst. "I'm going back to the house. Connie should be there by now, I don't want to keep her waiting."

"Are you sure about this?" Garnet asked the slender gem.

"Yes, I am."

"Very well." The visor clad gem said understandingly. "You best be on your way, then."

"Again, I'm sorry." Pearl apologized.

"No need to be, you just need some time. That's all."

With that, Pearl headed towards the teleporter. Sadly, it was quite a distance away, so that gave Pearl's guilty conscience a chance to sneak up on her again.

' _It must be so hard for Garnet to be understanding when I'm like… this as of late. Nevertheless, I am at least happy that she's being patient with me.'_ Pearl reasoned with herself. _'Plus, even Amethyst is being sympathetic, at least somewhat. I can't remember the last time that happened.'_ She added as a small smile found a way onto her face.

' _Still, Amethyst was right. I can't let this guilt control me. Hmmm… maybe I should finally take up Avery's offer and talk with him. I wonder if he's still at the house."_

Finally reaching the teleporter and activating it, Pearl's question was answered.

"So, what did you guys think of episode one?" The man Pearl was thinking about said.

"That." Steven started.

"Was." Connie continued.

"AWESOME!" Both finished simultaneously.

"I'm glad you liked it." Avery said, laughing slightly at the duo's reaction. After saying that, he caught Pearl in his line of sight. In reaction to this, Avery called out to the floor below:

"Oh, hello Pearl! Good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. I was actually hoping you were still here."

"Is that so? Why is that the case?" Avery asked while climbing down Steven's ladder.

"Well, you see… You know what, it can wait for a while. I need to give Connie some practice."

"Are you sure it can wait? It sounds urgent." Avery said worriedly.

"I'm sure. I don't want to keep Connie waiting. Speaking of which," Pearl paused momentarily to redirect her voice to the girl in question. "Are you ready you start, Connie?"

"Yes I am." She replied.

"Say, what are you two practicing, anyway?" Avery asked.

In response to this, Connie unsheathed a sword Avery hadn't noticed her walk in with.

"Swordplay." The girl said proudly.

"Woah, seriously?" Avery turned to Pearl. "You know how to wield a sword?"

Pearl laughed her trademarked dorky laugh. Doing such made Avery's heart skip a beat.

' _Not now, feelings.'_ Avery thought, irritated.

"Know how to? Avery, I can run circles around anybody who claims themselves to be a swordsman."

"Is there any chance I can watch you two?" Avery asked, his excitement growing.

"Be my guest." Pearl answered with a shrug.

"Thank you."

"Just wait 'till you see, Avery," Steven started. "Pearl and Connie are amazing!"

"I'm not that good, just yet." Connie said, blush apparent on her face.

"Oh, don't talk like that." Said Pearl. "You've improved significantly over the past several weeks."

Such talk made Connie only blush deeper.

"So, do you guys just train in the house or is there somewhere special it takes place?" Avery asked

"You'll see." Pearl said plainly while stepping on the teleporter. Soon after, Steven and Connie followed suit, with Avery finally stepping on after a 'C'mon' from Steven.

After doing so, Avery felt a hand on his shoulder. Turing his head around, he could see the hand belonged to Pearl. As he was looking at her questioningly, Pearl answered Avery with:

"I just want to make sure you don't fly away."

"What do you mean?"

Avery's questioned was answered when soon after, the teleporter activated. Feeling a sudden lightness of his being, Avery almost stumbled out of the beam of light surrounding him and the others. Luckily, Pearl was there to right him.

"Are you okay?" She inquired.

"Um, yeah, I'm… Okay." Avery answered, blushing with embarrassment (and something else, unbeknownst to Pearl).

After that little escapade, the light surrounding the group died down to reveal a gladiatorial style arena surrounded by clouds.

"Wow." Avery said, distracted by the beauty of their location. "Where are we?"

"The Sky Arena!" Steven exclaimed, arms outstretched.

"Why don't you and Steven sit over there," Pearl pointed over to some stone seating with her own sword. "We will begin momentarily."

Finding a spot with a good view of the upcoming action, Steven and Avery situated themselves.

"I hope you guys are ready for a show!" Connie called out to the two in the audience.

And what a show it was.

While Pearl was the prominent displayer of the more advanced maneuvers, Connie also did a decent job keeping up with her mentor. They showed off different uses of the parry, thrust, and multiple kinds of guarding and countering. It was all very exciting to Avery.

He, however, couldn't help but notice something off with Pearl. Even though this was the first time he saw her using a sword, her movements seemed somewhat delayed and her gaze was elsewhere most of the time. Connie must have also noticed this, because after practicing for a while she asked:

"Are you okay, Pearl? You don't seem yourself."

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just have some… things on my mind."

"Would you like to talk about them?" Avery called from the stands, jerking his head over to the teleporter.

"… I would, yes."

Pearl and Avery started to walk towards the teleporter. Steven and Connie were about to do the same, but Pearl stopped them by saying:

"Steven, why don't you stay here and help Connie with her training for the time being?"

"Oh. Okay." The boy replied.

With that, the slender gem and the young man disappeared within a beam of light.

Upon the duo's departure, Steven's face morphed into a small smile.

"Why are you so happy?" Connie questioned her best friend.

"Oh, no reason. I'm just rooting for those two."

"Rooting? How so?"

"You know, I'm hoping they get together." Steven explained in further detail.

"Really?" Connie asked with a small laugh.

"Yes, really. Look, you may not know him that well, but Avery's a really good guy. He can be a bit dorky, but so can Pearl! Besides, whenever he's around, Pearl's always smiling and enjoying herself. At least, more so than any other human I've seen her with. Plus," Steven continued, his face becoming more serious. "I just want Pearl to happy, and I think with Avery she can have that."

"I see." Said Connie. "Well, it seems she at least trusts him to talk about her problems. Also, even though I barely know him, I guess I can agree with you about Avery being a good guy." She reasoned.

"See, I told you!" Steven exclaimed. "So, what do ya say: You wanna help me get those two crazy kids together?"

Connie looked down to the ground, thinking momentarily before saying with a smile:

"Okay, sure, why not?"

"Alright!" Steven exclaimed, following with an overdramatic utterance of the words:

"Initiating: Operation Pearlvery!"


End file.
